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THE 



LIFE AND TRAVELS 



OF 



ST. PAUL. 



WRITTEN FOR THE AMERICAN SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION ; 



BY G. T. BEDELL, D. D. 

Rector of St, Andrew's Church, Philadelphia. 



REVISED BY THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION. 






AMERICAN SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION. 

PHILADELPHIA: 
No. 146 CHESNUT STREET. 

1830. 



*r 



-11 



Eastern District of Pennsylvania, to wit : 

BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the third day of Novem- 
ber, in the fifty-fifth year of the Independence of the United 
States of America, A. D. 1830, Paul Beck, jun. Treasurer, in 
trust for the -American Sunday-School Union, of the said Dis- 
trict, has deposited in this office the title of a book, the right 
whereof he claims as proprietor, in the words following; to 
wit: 

"The Life and Travels of St. Paul. Written for the Ame- 
rican Sunday-School Union ; by G. T. Bedell, D. D. Rector of 
St. Andrew'3 Church, Philadelphia, Revised by the Commit- 
tee of Publication. 1 ' 

In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United 
States, entitled, " An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, 
by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the Au- 
thors and Proprietors of such copies, during the times therein 
mentioned," and also to the act, entitled, " An Act Supplemen- 
tary to an Act, entitled 4 An Act for the Encouragement of 
Learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to 
the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times 
therein mentioned,' and extending the benefits thereof to the 
arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other 
prints." 

D. CALDWELL, 
Clerk of the Eastern District cf Pennsylvania. 

^o^j,»<r tf«f2. 



/ ^ 

THE 

LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 



CHAPTER I. 

Birth -place? extraction? early education? natu- 
ral disposition? and religious profession of 
Saul. 

The story of real life is always full of in- 
terest, no matter how obscure the person may 
be whose history is written ; the simple fact 
of the memoir being a record of the life of a 
human being, gives to it a strong hold on the 
mind of the reader. When the subject of the 
memoir is one whose history is connected 
with great events, the interest is increased ; 
but when the record is that of perfect truth, 
and written under the guidance of the Spirit 
of God, it attracts, as it deserves, the highest 
regard. It is not strange then, that by old 
and young, there appears to be an unwearied 
pleasure in reading the histories that are 

3 



4 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

given to us in the sacred Scriptures. Though 
every page may be as familiar to us as the al- 
phabet, the very fact that it is true, and cer- 
tainly true, because written under the inspi- 
ration of God, gives an interest which it were 
in vain to look for, in any other narrative. 

In the lives recorded in the Bible, we have 
real examples, which not only give us right 
views of the human heart, but lead us to see 
how necessary and how perfect is that salvation 
which the Lord Jesus Christ has wrought out 
by his death and sufferings, and of which he 
has given us such full assurance by his glorious 
resurrection from the dead. Among those 
whose names have found a place in the sacred 
record, there is none of more note than he 
whose histoiy we now present. No human 
being has done so much by his writings and 
life to extend the knowledge of the Gospel, 
and to none are mankind more indebted for the 
labours he has done and the sufferings he has 
borne for the cause of Truth and the good of 
his fellow men. 

It is our design to set before our readers a 
plain and connected history of this great man, 
adding to the facts recorded in scripture only 



LIFE Or ST. PAUL. 5 

such things as will explain the truths there 
presented. 

Saul, (for this was his name at first), is sup- 
posed to have been born about eleven years 
after the birth of our Saviour. His birth-place 
was the city of Tarsus, then the chief city of 
Cilicia. It is situated near the river Cydnus,* 
which falls into the Mediterranean sea, about 
lat. 36° 53' north, Ion. 34° 52' east.f It was 
originally called Terasso. It was once a city 
of note, but is now a poor little town fallen to 
decay. 

The names of the parents of Saul are not 
mentioned in the Scriptures, though we learn 
that he was a descendant of the Patriarch 
x\braham, and of the tribe of Benjamin. He 
calls himself, " An Hebrew of the Hebrews," 
by which he means that he was an Israelite 
on both sides, by father and mother, and from 
one generation to another, none of his ances- 
tors having ever married with the gentiles; so 
that he was purely of Jewish extraction. 

Besides this, by birth Saul wa3 a Roman 
citizen ; that is, he had the same privileges as 
an actual citizen of Rome; for, according to 

* Now Kara-su. t Please refer to the map. 

A 2 



6 LIFE OF ST. PAUL, 

the custom of those days, extraordinary privi- 
leges were conferred on those who had ren- 
dered remarkable public services, and it is 
generally supposed that some of SauPs ancestors 
had been distinguished during the wars of the 
Roman commonwealth, and had thus received 
the benefit of being considered as Roman citi- 
zens. This privilege was used by Saul to his 
advantage on a variety of occasions. 

That Saul had an excellent early educa- 
tion there can be no question, for Tarsus was 
celebrated as a seat of learning. A great 
ancient Geographer, who lived in the same 
age, tells us that the inhabitants of Tarsus ex- 
celled even those of Athens, and Alexandria, 
in their attention to learning ; and we know 
that Saul, in three different places, makes quo- 
tations from no less than three of the most 
distinguished Heathen authors. As it was 
the custom of the natives of Tarsus, to travel 
to other cities to advance themselves in learn- 
ing, Saul, at a pretty early age, removed to Je- 
rusalem, where he pursued the study of the 
Jewish law out of the scriptures and tradi- 
tions, under Gamaliel, a celebrated teacher of 
that day. According to a very excellent 



LIFE OF ST. FAUL. 7 

practice which the Jews had, the parents of 
Saul completed his education by having him 
taught a mechanical employment, by which, 
in case of necessity, he might maintain him- 
self without being a burden to his friends or 
the public. On this principle Saul was taught 
the art of tent-making* 

As to the natural disposition of Saul, he 
appears to have been a young man of great 
abilities, strong passions, and wonderful reso- 
lution and decision of character. He thus may 
be said to have been remarkably qualified for 
usefulness in whatever he should undertake. 
Divine grace afterwards sanctified these prin- 
ciples, and brought them most advantageously 
to bear on the interests of the christian reli- 
gion. 

Under the teaching of Gamaliel, Saul be- 
came acquainted with all Jewish learning — 
with the principles of his ow r n religion ; and 
the most generally received interpretation of 
the books of the old Testament. He united 
himself to the sect of the Pharisees, the strict- 
est and most orthodox sect of the Jewish 
church ; and as he made great proficiency in 
his studies, so he became a most zealous and 



8 LIFE OF ST, FAUL. 

devoted adhererit to all the Mosaic institutions, 
Such an attachment might be greatly increased 
by the influence of his tutor : at least we 
know that he came out from under his care a 
rigid, bigoted Pharisee, He laid an undue 
stress on the observance of the Jewish cere- 
monies, and as he could not bear to hear that 
these ceremonies were to be abolished to make 
room for a more spiritual system, he imbibed 
with his early education a spirit of opposition 
to the Gospel. He thought, (and it seemed 
to be a firm conviction,) that it was his duty to 
exert himself against the Christian faith. He 
tells us in his epistle to the Galatians, (i. 14,) 
that he was " more exceedingly zealous of 
the traditions of his fathers," than many of his 
own nation : and in his speech before Agrippa, 
which is recorded in Acts xxvi. he tells us, in 
the ninth verse, " I verily thought with myself 
that I ought to do many things contrary to the 
name of Jesus of Nazareth." Now some have 
been disposed to ask, if Saul acted sincerely and 
according to the dictates of his conscience > where 
was he to blame ? — This question is very easily 
answered. His sin consisted in his not taking 
proper pains to convince himself of the truth — 



LIFE OF ST, PAUL. 9 

it was his wicked unconverted heart, which 
prevented his giving the gospel a serious at- 
tention and fair examination. He must have 
had many opportunities of being acquainted 
with its evidence, during his residence at Je- 
rusalem ; but he was not disposed to see the 
truth of a system which overthrew his proud 
principles; he therefore obstinately refused to 
admit the light which was offered. While 
truth can be attained, no man can be excused 
for continuing in error ; and no matter how 
sincere he may be while he is in error, he 
will be condemned, because he would not come 
to the truth. — We shall see what Saul thought 
and said of himself when we come to notice 
some subsequent portions of his history. 



10 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 



CHAPTER H. 

First mention of Saul connected with persecu- 
tion — His miraculous conversion — Baptism 
— Begins to preach the gospel — Observations 
on his conversion. 

We said something in the last chapter 
about the sincerity of Saul : -we shall now see 
that, with all his sincerity, he had a most un- 
subdued and wicked spirit, showing that though 
he was very bigoted in his attachment to the 
Jewish church 3 he had no change of heart. 
The very first mention of the name of Saul is 
connected with the death of that good man 
St. Stephen. He, with a great multitude of 
Jews, heard this preacher deliver the sermon 
which is contained in the seventh chapter of 
the Acts; and they were so exceedingly mad 
with Stephen's faithfulness, in telling them that 
they were sinners, and in preaching the Lord 
Jesus Christ, that they interrupted him in his 
sermon, made a great noise, and stopped their 
ears so that they could not hear him. It 
would have been well had they ceased here ; 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 11 

but when their passions were excited they 
knew not where to end, and so they drove 
Stephen out of Jerusalem, and stoned him to 
death. Saul was probably the youngest of 
the party, and the others gave him their clothes 
to take care of while they were engaged in 
this cruel business. The sacred history tells 
us, that " Saul was consenting unto his death ;" 
that is, he stood by and looked on and approved 
what was doing, and therefore was actually as 
bad as those who killed him. But Saul soon 
showed what evil was in his heart. He had 
enjoyed, as it were, a taste of blood in the 
death of Stephen ; and he soon proceeded to 
great lengths. With a furious disposition, 
more like a beast of prey than a human crea- 
ture, he sought out the disciples of Christ that 
he might destroy them. He went to great 
extremes indeed, before it pleased God to 
stop his mad career. In the third verse of the 
eighth chapter of Acts we are told, " as for 
Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering 
into every house, and haling men and women, 
committed them to prison.' 5 In his speech 
to his own countrymen recorded in Acts, 
(twenty-second chapter,) he confesses that 



12 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

he "imprisoned and beat in every syna- 
gogue them that believed ;" and in his speech 
before Agrippa, Acts xxvi. he says, "and I 
punished them oft in every synagogue^ and 
compelled them to blaspheme ; and being ex- 
ceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them 
even unto strange cities." From his own 
confessions therefore, it is plain that he wanted 
to root out the Christians entirely. In order 
to do this he obtained authority from the high 
priest, and then went off to Damascus to do 
this wicked work. This shows his zeal to do 
evil towards the christians ; for Damascus was 
a great way from Jerusalem, about one hundred 
and sixty miles north-east of that city. On 
this journey he was accompanied by others, 
who hated the religion of the Lord Jesus as 
much as he did. 

After such an account as this, no one can 
doubt what was Saul's state of mind. He 
was certainly " in the gall of bitterness and 
in the bond of iniquity." The principles by 
which he was actuated, and the conduct he 
pursued, were highly offensive to God, so that 
we cannot but consider him in that period of 
his life, as altogether hateful in the sight of 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 13 

God. It is true that he was strict in his man- 
ners, that he was moral, and blameless before 
men. He was constant and exact in all the 
forms of external devotion ; and thus filled 
with pride and prejudice, he " went about to 
establish his own righteousness," and thought 
he was in a fair way of going to heaven. He 
did not understand the spirituality of God's 
law ; he was unconverted ; and if he had been 
cut off in his state of sin, he must have gone 
to hell. 

And now. my young reader, before I go 
further, let me say to you, that you, like Saul, 
may be conscious of your own rectitude, and 
yet be deceived. You may abstain from gross 
immoralities, and you may be very regular in 
your attention to your outward religious duties, 
and yet from the inward tempers and disposi- 
tions of your unconverted heart, you may be 
altogether hateful in the sight of God. Learn 
from the example which is before you, the ne- 
cessity of a total change of heart. Such a 
change took place in Saul, when he was about 
twenty -four years of age, which was four years 
after the crucifixion of our Saviour. Saul had. 
as you know, set off for Damascus ; and when 
B 



14 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

he was within view of the city, he saw a 
light from heaven, above the brightness of the 
sun, shining round about him. This happened 
in the middle of tne day, which made it more 
remarkable ; and so powerful was the dazzling 
splendour, that Saul and his companions were 
ail struck down to the ground. It would seem 
from what is said, in 1 Cor. xv. 8, that Saul ac- 
tually saw the Lord Jesus Christ. 

When he had fallen, he heard a voice saying 
to him, " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me V 
Saul asks, " who art thou Lord ?" and the Lord 
said — " I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." 
Saul, trembling and astonished at this awful 
vision, his pride subdued, and his mind filled 
with a sense of the presence of God, cried out 
" Lord what wilt thou have me to do?" The 
will of God is all that he now wants to know. 
The Lord graciously answers him ; and instead 
of cutting him off in anger, he bids him arise 
from his fallen state, and go into the city, where 
he would learn from one of those whom he 
sought to destroy, what he ought to do. — How 3 
great an honour did the Lord here put upon 
his disciples ! He makes one of them the in- 
strument of doing that which he might, in a 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 15 

word, have done himself, The men who were 
with Saul stood speechless, hearing the voice, 
but seeing no one from whom it came. 

At the command of Jesus, Saul arose from 
the earth, but he was blind — the power of 
sight was suspended, He could not see the 
companions of his journey, but they led him by 
the hand and brought him to Damascus, and 
he was there three days without sight, and so 
deeply affected that he did neither eat nor 
drink. The bold persecutor became the hum- 
ble, broken-hearted penitent, and was then 
prepared for a message of mercy. 

There was a disciple living at Damascus, 
named Ananias whom the Lord used as the 
messenger of peace to the afflicted Saul ; and 
in order to show this disciple that it was his 
duty to look out the dreaded persecutor, and 
administer to him the comforts of that faith 
which he sought to destroy, the Lord appear- 
ed to him in a vision. He called him by 
name — Ananias. The disciple answered, 
Behold I am here, Lord. — The Lord saith 
to him, arise and go into the street which is 
called Straight, and inquire in the house of 
Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus ; for be- 



16 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

hold he prayeth ; and he hath seen in a vision, a 
man named Ananias coming in, and putting 
his hand on him, that he might receive his 
sight. To this direction Ananias replies, that 
he had heard from many persons the terrible 
character of this Saul, and how much evil he 
had done to the holy people of God at Jerusa- 
lem, and that he had even come to that place 
with authority from the chief priests to bind all 
that called on the name of the Lord Jesus. But 
the mercy of the Lord was not diverted by the 
relation of these things. He tells Ananias to 
do as he is directed, declaring that this Saul 
was a chosen vessel to bear his name before 
the gentiles and kings, and the children of 
Israel. Ananias arose, and according to the 
particular directions he had received of the 
street and the house, went directly to the place ; 
and putting his hands upon Saul, addressed 
him very affectionately — brother Saul, the Lord, 
that Jesus who appeared to you on the way as 
you were coming, hath sent me, that you might 
receive your sight and be filled with the Holy 
Ghost. Immediately as Ananias had spoken, 
there fell from the eyes of Saul a substance 
like scales, his sight was restored, and he was 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 21 

king, kept the city of Damascus with a garrison , 
desiring to apprehend me ; and through a win- 
dow in a basket was I let down by the wall, 
and so escaped his hands." And we see from 
this, that when the Lord wills, there are many 
ways by which his servants can get out of the 
way of their enemies. It is only necessary to 
trust in the Lord, and there is no danger. 

After Saul had escaped from Damascus, he 
went all the way to Jerusalem, which w r as a 
very long journey in those days. He, pro* 
bably, had to w T alk all the way ; but nothing 
tired him when he was about his Master's busi- 
ness. When he reached Jerusalem, however, 
he found that the disciples there were all 
afraid of him ; and this shows with how much 
terror his former persecutions had filled all 
the church. Notwithstanding the report of 
his conversion, they did not want to have 
any thing to do with him, but God raised him 
up a friend among them. This friend was 
Barnabas, who related every thing which he 
knew or had heard, and Saul was then received 
as a fellow labourer in" the Gospel. It is rea- 
sonable to suppose that Saul must have felt 
very strangely when he first began to preach 



22 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

in Jerusalem ; for this was the very place 
where he used to be so great a persecutor ; and 
it is very likely that he met with many persons 
who formerly knew him, and feared him too. 
As he had, before his conversion, so grievously 
persecuted the christians in Jerusalem, he now 
determined most faithfully to preach the Gos- 
pel there ; and he did it with so much zeal 
and power, that he soon excited the indigna- 
tion of his countrymen ; and as he had been 
obliged to fly for his life from Damascus, so 
he was compelled to do the same from Jerusa- 
lem. His brethren went with him to a place 
called Csesarea, which is a sea-port on the 
Mediterranean sea ; and, finding some con- 
veyance ready, they sent him to Tarsus, the 
place where he had been born. All this hap- 
pened in the year of our Lord 42, Saul re- 
mained in Tarsus, and the neighbourhood, for 
the next four years, no doubt preaching the 
Gospel of the Saviour wherever he could 
get an opportunity, and preparing himself for 
further usefulness. 

After a short time, the apostles at Jerusalem 
heard that there was a great revival of religion 
in a town called Antioch. There were sixteen 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 23 

towns of this name in Syria, but the one 
alluded to was the capital ; once a very cele- 
brated place, but now ruined entirely. Bar- 
nabas was sent from Jerusalem to this city, 
to see what was going on; and when he 
came,, he found that there had been a great 
out-pouring of the spirit. As the Scrip- 
tures tell us, that he was a good man and full 
of the Holy Ghost, we are not surprised to 
hear that he was glad when he discovered such 
a state of things, and that he spent his time 
in exhorting them with full purpose of heart to 
cleave unto the Lord. But as such peculiar 
circumstances rendered his labour very heavy, 
he went to Tarsus to seek Saul, and brought 
him back with him to Antioch. The work here 
was so great, that Barnabas and Saul continu- 
ed one whole year; and what is very remarka- 
ble, this Antioch was the very first place where 
the disciples were called christians. But, my 
dear young readers, to be called christians and 
to be christians are two things. The most of 
you are probably called christians, because you 
have been born and educated in a christian 
land. Oh, that you were all really christians ; 
that is, that you were new created in Christ 



24 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

Jesus, by having your hearts changed by the 
grace of God. None but real christians will 
ever be saved. 

While all this was going on at Antioch, it 
so happened that there was a great drought 
over all the land of Judea, and the poor chris- 
tians at Jerusalem suffered very much from 
want; for every thing became very dear, as. 
things always are when there is a scarcity. 
The disciples at Antioch, hearing of this, de- 
termined that they would make a contribution 
for their poor brethren in Jerusalem ; and they 
sent it by Barnabas and Saul. Thus we see that 
after five years' absence, four in Tarsus and 
the neighbourhood, and one in Antioch, Saul 
once more comes to Jerusalem. He staid 
here however but a little time, as his special 
business had been to carry the contributions 
of the church at Antioch ; and after he had 
done this, he and Barnabas went back and 
took with them John, who is better known 
under the name of Mark — and here they 
all continued for a while preaching the Gos- 
pel. 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 25 



CHAPTER IV. 

Saul and Barnabas appointed missionaries, 
and some account of their first missionang 
tour, with many other interesting circum- 
stances. 

The history of the appointment of Saul and 
Barnabas as missionaries, is contained in the 
thirteenth chapter of Acts, and is briefly as 
follows. " Now there were in the church that 
was at Antioch, certain prophets and teach- 
ers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called 
Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen 
which had been brought up with Herod the 
tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered unto 
the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, se- 
parate me Barnabas and Saul for the work 
whereunto I have called them. And when 
they had fasted and prayed, and laid hands 
on them, they sent them away."— 

Saul and Barnabas being thus appointed to 

the missionary work, they went out, like the 

Patriarch of old, depending only on the Lord 

for guidance and direction. They immedi- 

C 



26 LIFE OF ST. TALL. 

ately left Antioch, and went to Seleucia, 
which is a sea-port town on the Mediterra- 
nean, no very great distance off. It stands at 
the mouth of the same river on which An- 
tioch stands, namely, the Orontes ; and the 
name by which Seleucia is now known, is 
Suveidia. Here they took passage, and went 
to a very large island in the Mediterranean, 
called Cyprus, about one hundred miles from 
the main land of Syria, and about seventy 
miles from the main land of Cilicia. This 
island is about two hundred miles long from 
east to west, and about sixty miles broad. It 
is shaped somewhat like a triangle. This 
island was so remarkable for its fertility, that 
the ancfents called it, " the rich and the happy 
island:" but the people were as remarka- 
ble for their wickedness. It must have been 
an island of a great many inhabitants when 
Saul landed there ; for in the year of our Lord 
1570, when the Turks conquered it, it con- 
tained no less than one million of people ; but 
now the number is reduced below forty thou- 
sand. 

The first place in which Saul appears to 
have preached the Gospel in Cyprus, was in 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL, 27 

a city called Salamis, where, most probably, 
they had landed, as it was a sea-port town, 
standing on a most beautiful bay. Here they 
preached the word of God, in the synagogues 
of the Jews, but how long they staid there, 
the sacred history does not tell us. From this 
place Saul and Barnabas took a tour through 
the whole island, and reached a place called 
Paphos, a celebrated city at the very western 
extremity of the island. And here a very 
curious circumstance took place. Sergius 
Paulus, who was the Roman governor of the 
island, discovered a favourable disposition, 
and desired to hear the Gospel. But there 
was there a noted magician, or conjuror, 
named Ely mas, one of those wicked* people 
who used, in former days, to go about pre- 
tending to do miracles; and this man, finding 
himself in danger of losing his influence, tried 
to prejudice the governor against religion, and 
to turn him away from the faith. Saul, ad- 
dressing this vile opposer of the Gospel, who 
laboured to keep others in darkness, said 
to him, — ;; full of all subtilty and all mis- 
chief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of 
all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to per^ 



28 LIFE OF ST- PAUL, 

vert the ways of the Lord? And now be- 
hold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and 
thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a 
season." Hereupon there came over him a 
mist and a darkness, and having lost his sight, 
he went about seeking some one to lead him 
by the hand- 

The Governor, being convinced by this mi- 
racle, embraced the Christian religion, There 
are many circumstances which conspire to 
prevent the free access of the ministers of 
Christ, to persons of high rank. They, whose 
interest or influence is likely to suffer by the 
Gospel, will try to oppose it ; but the enemies 
of truth shall be defeated, like Elymas, and the 
word of God shall prosper, 

Our readers will probably remember, that 
all along in this history, we have callec the in- 
dividual, about whom we have been writing, 
Saul. But the sacred history, while it is tell- 
ing us about this curious transaction at Paphos, 
also tells us that Saul was also called Paul, 
and afterwards, in the history, he is spoken of 
by this name. We are not able to tell why 
his name was changed. The most general 
opinion is, that Saul changed his name to Paul 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 29 

to commemorate the first considerable conver- 
sion which was made through his instrument- 
ality, viz. : that of Sergius Paulus. Whatever 
might have been the reason, we shall hereafter, 
following the history, call him PatiL 

We do not know how long Paul and Barna- 
bas remained in the island of Cyprus. When 
they left Paphos, they went over to that part 
of the coast of Asia Minor called Pamphylia, 
and journeyed to an inland city, called Perga. 
This was one of the largest cities in that pro- 
vince, and stood on a river called Caystrus. 
There is nothing remarkable related of Paul 
here ; and the only circumstance in the his- 
tory, at all necessary to mention, is, that Paul 
and Barnabas were here deserted by one of 
their fellow-labourers, John Mark, who return- 
ed to Jerusalem. He did not renounce the faith 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, but he seems to have 
grown tired of the missionary work. We hope 
that he was soon convinced of his error, and 
commenced the work again. 

From Perga, Paul and Barnabas went to 

Antioch, in Pisidia. This was a different 

place from the Antioch mentioned before, and 

not a place of so much consequence. But 

c 2 



30 LIFE OF ST, FAIL, 

some very important particulars here occurred, 
for here Paul and Barnabas attended the wor- 
ship of the Jewish synagogue ; and after the 
usual service, Paul, being invited by the 
rulers of the synagogue to address the con- 
gregation, rose up and preached a most faith- 
ful Gospel sermon, some account of which 
will, we trust, be interesting to our readers. 
To impress their minds in favour of the glorious 
doctrine w T hich he was about to preach, he be- 
gan with a history and explanation of some of 
the merciful dispensations of God towards their 
ancestors, particularly in having given them 
the promise of a Saviour, and by slow degrees 
preparing them for his reception. He then 
went on to tell them, that Jesus Christ was 
the very one who had been all along pre- 
dicted. That John the Baptist acknowledged 
him as the Messiah — that by the inhabitants 
of Jerusalem and their rulers he was put to 
death, even against the will of Pilate the go- 
vernor, no fault being found in him. " And," 
he continues, " when they had fulfilled all 
that was written of him, they took him down 
from the tree, and laid him in the sepulchre. 
But God raised him from the dead : and he 



LIFE OF ST* PAIL, 31 

was seen many days of them which came up 
with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are 
his witnesses unto the people. And we de* 
clare unto you glad tidings, how that the pro- 
mise which was made unto the fathers, God 
hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, 
in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as is 
also written in the second Psalm, Thou art my 
Son, this day have I begotten thee s >? What 
ought to have had a great effect on them w r as, 
that the apostle argued the w T hole matter as 
agreeable to their own scriptures, that is the 
Old Testament; and that, according to their 
own prophecies, of which they were proud, Je- 
sus had been raised from the dead, and there- 
fore was the very Saviour whom they professed 
to look for. He most solemnly entreated them 
to accept that full and free redemption which 
was offered in Christ, and w r arned them, in the 
awful language of the prophet, not to reject 
the gracious terms of salvation. This was the 
substance of that discourse of Paul, w r hich is 
contained in the thirteenth chapter of the Acts. 
It is a melancholy fact, however, that none of 
the audience appear to have been properly 
impressed. Some of the Gentiles seem to 



32 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

have been interested, and requested that the 
next Sabbath-day he would preach to them. 

Paul and Barnabas spent the week in going 
about visiting the pious persons, and exhort- 
ing them to maintain an active state of reli- 
gion in their own souls, On the next Sabbath 
there came together almost the whole city to 
hear the word of God preached by Paul and 
Barnabas. We are not, however, to suppose 
from this, that they all came from a good mo- 
tive. We know that, in these days, great crowds 
will go to hear even those men and women 
who are opposers to the truth as it is in Jesus. 
There is always in the unconverted heart an 
opposition to religion, although their curiosity 
may lead them to church. However, almost 
all the people went, and the Jews, who saw 
that they were all apparently anxious to know 
something about the Gospel, became angry ; 
they openly contradicted what Paul said, and 
at last began to abuse him and to blaspheme, 
their passions became so heated. Paul went on, 
however, and preached more and more boldly, 
till at last he was compelled to tell them, that 
though in God's goodness it was necessary 
that the first offer of the Gospel should be 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL, 33 

made to them, still, if they would not have it, 
but chose to ruin their own souls, he would go 
and preach to the Gentiles, and that they would 
hear it, and accept God's mercy. When the 
Gentiles heard this, they were glad to find 
that the Gospel was offered to them, and they 
glorified the word of the Lord, accepting par- 
don through Christ. The Gospel was preached 
through all that neighbourhood, and there 
were many converted souls who joined them- 
selves to the disciples. 

The wicked Jews, however, could not let 
the matter rest. Thev raised a great noise 
and outcry, and at last Paul and Barnabas were 
driven out of the city. One curious circum- 
stance occurred. In this persecution, we are 
told, the devout and honourable women were en- 
gaged. By devout and honourable, the writer 
means, those who were very strict in the Jewish 
religion, so far as form goes, and that they were 
respectable persons. No really devout persons 
could have been engaged in so wicked a busi- 
ness. It often happens, that those who make a 
great show of religion, get offended when there 
is any remarkable attention to the subject, and 
that which ought to be a matter of great rejoic- 



34 LIFE OF ST. FAUL, 

ing, often excites envy and displeasure, The 
Lord's cause, however, is always safe, and no 
matter how many persecutors or persecutions 
arise, the work of religion must go on and pros- 
per. Although Paul and Barnabas were driven 
with fury from Antioch, their hearts were filled 
with joy and the Holy Ghost ; with joy for the es- 
tablishment of a church, and the conversion of 
souls, and with the Holy Ghost, or with the 
special influence of the Spirit of God. 

From Antioch they went to Iconium, which 
was then the capital of Lycaonia. It is one 
hundred and ten miles from the Mediterranean 
sea. The apostles had great success in their 
Master's cause here, but they were treated at 
length precisely as they had been in Antioch, 
and were compelled to fly. Nevertheless, the 
word had taken deep root, for a church was 
here planted which flourished for eight hundred 
years. After it was taken by the Turks,howe ver, 
the christians were reduced to a very low con- 
dition, and soon were expelled from the city, 
and obliged to live in the suburbs. Whether 
there are any christians there now or not, we 
cannot tell. From Iconium, Paul and Barna- 
bas fled to Lystra. This was the city where 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 35 

Timothy was born. At this place, a poor man, 
who had been born a cripple, and never had 
walked^ but who had listened with faith to the 
preaching of Paul, was by him restored to the 
use of his limbs ; and the ignorant multitude, 
who were idolaters, because they saw miracles, 
supposed that Paul must be a god, and they 
actually began to prepare to offer sacrifices to 
Paul and Barnabas, calling Barnabas, Jupiter, 
the name of their principal false deity, and 
Paul they called, Mercurius, because he was 
the chief speaker. This circumstance very 
greatly distressed Paul and Barnabas, for they 
did not want man's applause. They rent their 
clothes in token of their great distress, and ran 
in among the people, and begged them to de- 
sist. They told them, that they were only 
men, and exhorted them to turn from their 
follies to the service of the true and living 
God. Their address is remarkably energetic. 
" Sirs, why do ye these things ? We also are 
men of like passions with you, and preach 
unto you, that ye should turn from these 
vanities unto the living God, which made 
heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things 
that are therein ; who in times past suffered 



36 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

all nations to walk in their own ways. Never- 
theless he left not himself without witness, in 
that he did good, and gave us rain from 
heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts 
with food and gladness. And with these 
sayings scarce restrained they the people, 
that they had not done sacrifice unto them." 

One thing is very curious to notice, viz., 
how soon people may change their opinions. 
Some of those wicked persecutors came from 
Antioch and Icon i urn to this place, and suc- 
ceeded in prejudicing the people of Lystra 
against Paul. The very same persons then, 
who had a little while before wanted to wor- 
ship him as a god, now were induced to treat 
him so cruelly, as even to stone him till they 
thought he was dead. They dragged him out 
of the city, and left him as if life had depart- 
ed. Here, therefore, to all human probability, 
the history of the apostle appeared to be con- 
cluded, but the Lord God, who had designed 
him for very great usefulness in the church, 
interposed in his behalf. Paul it appears 
had not been quite killed; there was some 
little life in him, and while the disciples 
stood by, weeping and mourning, no doubt, over 



LIFE OF ST. FAUL. 37 

his cruel and untimely fate, God restored him 
at once to his former strength. He rose up, 
and, to the great astonishment and fright of 
his friends, he went back into the city, and 
staid there till the next day, when he went 
with Barnabas to a place called Derbe. 

Derbe was a town said to be about twenty 
miles in a south-eastern direction from Lystra. 
It does not appear to have been a place of 
much consequence. Paul and Barnabas preach- 
ed here with considerable success, but how 
long they staid is not ascertained. After 
they had staid as long as was by them thought 
expedient, they started on their return to An- 
tioch, going through most of the places 
where they had before preached the Gospel, for 
the purpose of once more comforting the disci- 
ples with the word of 1 God. They exhorted the 
professors throughout that region to cling to 
their christian profession, under all the afflic- 
tions which might be brought upon them, and 
told them, what will be found true in the ex- 
perience of all the children of God in a greater 
or lesser degree, that they must, through much 
tribulation, enter into the kingdom of heaven. 

At several of the cities where churches had 
D 



38 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

been organized, Paul and Barnabas ordained 
elders to preside over the interests of the new 
churches, and to preach the Gospel of Christ. 
This missionary visit was the origin of those 
churches which were planted all along the 
route which Paul took,and which, under Divine 
grace, flourished a long time in great pros- 
perity ; but now they are no more, having 
fallen under the anger of God, for errors in 
doctrine, and for unholiness in life. 

In their way home, Paul and Barnabas 
passed through Pisidia, which was a district 
of country very narrow, but of some length. 
It lay in a kind of semi-circle, along the 
southern and western side of Mount Taurus. 
Once this small district was very populous, 
having no less than eighteen cities. There 
were also a great many churches, which Paul 
and Barnabas planted, and here religion flou- 
rished for seven or eight hundred years. 
When the Turks finally conquered the 
country, every thing like religion was de- 
stroyed. 

After they had passed through Pisidia, they 
came into the section of country called Pam- 
phylia, in which was a city, before noticed, 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 39 

called Perga, situated on the river Caystrus, 
a large place, where there was a Temple of 
Diana. From this place they travelled to a 
city in the same province, called Attalia. 
This was a sea-port town, situated on a very 
fine bay, which opened into the Mediterranean 
sea. Here they embarked, and soon reached 
Antioch in Syria, the city from which they 
had departed. As soon as they could, they 
called the church together, and told every 
thing which had occurred — they gave them 
what we would call, in these days, a mission- 
ary report of their proceedings, showing that 
God had prospered them much in their effort 
to introduce Christianity among the heathen 
people. On this tour, Paul and Barnabas had 
been absent about two years. We are told, 
that after so long an absence, they took up 
their abode in Antioch, and remained there 
a long time with the disciples of Christ in 
that city, no doubt actively engaged in their 
important duties. 



40 LIFE OF ST, PAUL, 



CHAPTER V, 

Paul remains some time at Antioch — Discus- 
sion there about circumcision — Goes to Je- 
rusalem — Council of the church — Settle- 
ment of the question, and return of Paul 
with Barnabas to Antioch, 

After Paul and Barnabas had remained 
some time in Antioch, (this was Antioch in 
Syria,) they were compelled to experience 
what is really more trying to the feelings of 
a christian, than all the fury of his enemies. 
They were compelled to witness the introduc- 
tion of some great errors in doctrine. There 
were some persons, how many, or who they 
were, we are not informed ; but they came 
down from Judea with all their Jewish preju- 
dices, though they were prdfessedly converted 
to Christianity, and they attempted to teach 
the new converts at Antioch, that unless they 
were circumcised, and kept the ceremonial 
laws of the Jews, they could not be saved. 
Some might say, what great harm could there 
be in these opinions — but the Apostle dis* 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 41 

covered the evil, for it struck at the very 
fundamental principles of Christianity. By 
inculcating the necessity of conformity to the 
ceremonies of the Mosaic law, in order to be 
saved, it was as much as saying at once, that 
the sacrifice of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ was not a sufficient ground on which 
to rest all hopes of salvation. These errors 
struck a blow at the great and vital doctrine 
of justification by faith, and seemed to teach 
the wicked error, that our own works can 
make us acceptable in the sight of God. 
Paul, as a faithful servant of his Master, set 
himself to oppose these errors with all his 
might, and he succeeded so far in putting a 
stop to their progress, as to induce the disciples 
at Antioch to send for advice to the church at 
Jerusalem, composed of older, and wiser, and 
more experienced christians than themselves. 
This they did ; and Paul and Barnabas went 
up to Jerusalem, announcing, as they w r ent 
through Phenice and Samaria, the glad tidings 
of the conversion of the Gentiles. When 
•he apostles and elders came together to dis- 
cuss the matter which had caused the diffi- 
culty, Peter made an address, in which he took 
d2 



42 LIFE OF ST. PAXIL. 

the same view of the subject which Paul had. 
After Peter had spoken, Paul and Barnabas 
gave an account of the conversion of the Gen- 
tiles among whom they had preached the Gos- 
pel. When James had spoken 3 the conference 
was broken up, after determining upon a let- 
ter containing the unanimous opinion of all 
present on the question, and this opinion they 
declare to have been suggested to them by 
the Holy Spirit, under whose inspiration they 
were acting. The decision was, that the 
Gentiles, who became christians, were not 
bound by the Jewish ceremonial law, but that 
they were not to be allowed to eat meat that 
had been offered to idols, nor blood, nor the 
flesh of animals that had been put to death by 
strangling. This letter was carried by Judas ? 
(whose surname was Barsabas,) and Silas, who 
were both distinguished men among the 
brethren. When they reached Antioch, with 
Paul and Barnabas, they called the disciples 
together, and communicated the contents of 
the letter — and said a great many other things 
to do away the effects of the error which had 
been introduced. In this they happily suc- 
ceeded. The brethren were all delighted at 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 43 

the settlement of the question, and every 
thing went on prosperously, by the goodness 
of God. Judas and Silas being preachers, 
exhorted the people with many words, and 
their preaching confirmed them in the belief 
of the truths taught by Paul. After staying 
at Antioch a short time, it was agreed by the 
brethren, that they might return to the apos- 
tles, but Silas preferred staying there, no 
doubt encouraged by the success of his preach- 
ing, and desirous of being further useful. 

As Silas thought to remain at Antioch, Paul 
proposed to Barnabas to go on another mis- 
sionary tour, to see what the state of religion 
was in those places where they had before 
preached the Gospel. Barnabas agreed to go, 
but wanted to take with them the same John 
Mark, who had left them while they were on 
the former mission. This John Mark was a 
nephew of Barnabas, which was one reason, 
we suppose, why he wanted to take him. Paul 
did not think it right to take him, as he had 
deserted them once before. This made Bar- 
nabas angry, and Paul himself did not behave 
as humbly and as meekly as he ought to have 
done. Even good men are sometimes led 



44 LIFE OF ST. TAUL. 

into mistakes of judgment, and into an im- 
proper way of maintaining their own senti- 
ments. We have no doubt that both were 
very soon sorry for what they said and did. 
As they could not agree exactly whether it 
was right to take John Mark, they determined 
to go different ways, and Barnabas took Mark 
with him, and sailed to Cyprus. Paul, as 
he needed a companion also, took Silas, and 
went through Syria and Cilicia. 

In the next chapter, we shall give some ac- 
count of this missionary tour ; but before we 
close this, we must make a remark on the wis- 
dom and goodness of God's overruling Provi- 
dence, which in various ways brings good out 
of evil. This very dispute between Paul and 
Barnabas, wrong as it was, became the means 
of enlarging the church, and promoting the 
salvation of many souls. We can easily see 
this, when we remember that, in consequence 
of this misunderstanding, Barnabas went one 
way and Paul another, so that the glad tidings 
of the Gospel were carried to two different 
parts, instead of being confined to one. The 
misunderstanding was soon made up, for we 
find Paul speaking of Barnabas as his " be- 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 45 

loved Barnabas ;" and he also took John Mark 
to assist him. Christians, even the best, are 
sometimes led astray, but if they are sincere, 
they soon show their penitence and sorrow, 
and rectify the error. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Some account of PauVs second missionary 
tour, in which he suffers a great deal> but 
has much success — He preaches in several 
cities before visited — Directed to go to 
Macedonia — Visits Philippi — Dreadfully 
treated there, 

St. Paul is supposed to have commenced his 
second missionary tour about the year of our 
Lord 53, and as Barnabas, with Mark, went 
another way, Paul took Silas with him ; and 
being recommended by the brethren to the 
grace of God, they went through Syria and 
Cilicia, confirming the churches. Nothing 
very remarkable is related of them until they 
came to Lystra, the place where Paul before 
had been so barbarously treated. Here he 



46 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

met with a young convert named Timothy, 
with whom he appears to have been particu- 
larly delighted ; and to have remained so during 
the whole of his life. As St. Paul was desi- 
rous of taking him with him as an associate in 
his further progress, and as he wished also to 
set him apart for the work of the ministry, he 
saw fit to have him circumcised according to 
the law of Moses. 

The conduct of the Apostle on this occa- 
sion has given rise to a variety of conjectures. 
He opposed circumcision on some occasions ; 
why, therefore, did he yield to it on this? 
This is easily explained. St. Paul objected to 
the circumcision of Titus, because those who 
wanted Titus circumcised, insisted on it as 
necessary to salvation. On this ground St. 
Paul would not consent to it, lest he should 
thereby appear to deny or renounce the great 
doctrine of justification by faith. In the case 
of Timothy there was no danger. St. Paul had 
that rite performed withTimothy's own consent, 
in order that his ministry might be more ac- 
ceptable to the prejudices of the Jews. His 
mother also was a Jewess, although his father 
was a Greek, and as a Jew by birth, his not 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 47 

having been circumcised before, was an omis- 
sion. Being a Jew he would no doubt be 
better received as a minister and teacher by 
his countrymen ; and as they knew his father 
was a Greek, they would not receive him as a 
Jew unless he was by this ceremony brought 
into their ranks. This was a mark of wisdom 
and meekness, and had a tendency to do away 
objections which otherwise would have hin- 
dered the progress of the Gospel. It is never 
right, under any circumstances whatever, to do 
evil that good may come; but it is right some- 
times to yield, in matters of comparative indif- 
ference, for the sake of benefiting others. 

It seemed in the providence of God, that 
this second missionary tour of St. Paul should 
extend to places very remote from where he 
had ever been before. In company with 
Timothy and Silas, he visited the cities of 
Phrygia and Galatia, which are provinces in 
Asia Minor, and carried the decision of the 
apostles and elders at Jerusalem, in relation 
to the controversy before alluded to. This 
letter and decision were very acceptable to the 
people. 

When the Apostles had gone through that 



48 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

country, they received intimations from the 
Holy Spirit, that this part of the world was not 
to be the scene of their labours. With his 
beloved companions Silas and Timothy, Paul 
then thought he would go through Mysia, and 
Bythinia, the very extreme provinces of Asia 
Minor; but this also he was forbidden to do. 
Directed by the Spirit of God, he and his 
companions went through the province of 
Mysia, to a town called Troas, a sea-port town 
on the Egean sea. This is supposed to be not 
far from that celebrated place called Troy, 
which has been rendered so famous by the 
ancient poet, Homer. 

One thing is worthy of notice here. It will 
be seen by any one who attentively reads the 
11th verse of the 16th chapter of the Acts of 
the Apostles, that there is a remarkable change 
in the method in which the journeying of the 
Apostle is spoken of. In all the preceding 
history, the writer of the Acts, speaking of St. 
Paul, says, " he went from this place to that," 
&c. " he departed," &c. ; and speaking of the 
others, with Paul, he says, "they departed," 
" they came," " they went," &c. But in this 
verse he says, " we came," &c. Now what does 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 49 

this prove ? It proves that Luke, who was the 
writer of the book of the Acts of the Apostles, 
joined Paul at this place, and henceforward 
became one of his companions; so that this mis- 
sionary company now consisted of Paul, who 
was the leader, of Silas, of Timothy, and Luke. 

But while they were at Troas, Paul had a 
remarkable vision. There appeared to him a 
man of Macedonia, and urged him to go over 
to that country and preach the Gospel. This 
was the method which God took to intimate to 
St. Paul where he should go. When he told 
these things to the rest, they agreed that it 
was the will of God, and they prepared to go. 

We are now to accompany this little band 
of missionaries into an entire new quarter of 
the globe, hitherto untrodden by the feet of 
any regular preacher of Jesus Christ. We 
mean Europe. Hitherto all the efforts of the 
apostles had been made in Asia, and in that 
particular part of Asia ^called Asia Minor, to 
distinguish it from that immense extent of 
country embraced in the term Asia, which 
was one of the four great divisions of the 
earth; bounded by the Frozen ocean on the 
north, by the Pacific ocean on the east, by 
E 



50 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

the Indian ocean on the south ; and on the 
west, south-west, and north-west, by the Red, 
the Mediterranean, and the Euxine seas. 
Asia is 4800 miles long, from east to west, 
and 4300 miles broad, from north to south. 
Asia Minor is that part of Asia which lies 
between Mount Taurus on the east, and the 
Hellespont on the west. It was in this small 
section comparatively, that as far as the Gen- 
tiles were concerned, the missionaries of the 
cross had hitherto laboured. Now we go with 
them into Europe. 

From Troas, they took ship, and sailed in a 
straight course to Simothracia. This was a 
small island in the Egean sea, now called 
Samandraki. It is about twenty miles in cir- 
cumference, and has very good harbours, which 
we suppose the reason why the vessel stopped 
there, as there was no town of any consequence 
on the island. The only thing remarkable of this 
island is, that it was the earliest seat in Europe 
of the ancient Eastern idolatry, and the first 
place in Europe in which the apostles of Jesus 
touched. The next day, they sailed to Nea- 
polis, where a church was planted by them. 

From Neapolis they went to Philippi, one 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 51 

of the chief cities of the province of Macedo- 
nia, situated near the Egean sea. It received 
its name from Philip, king of Macedon. It 
was to the church at this place that the Apostle 
wrote an epistle. The place of this once dis- 
tinguished city is occupied by a small village 
called Filiba. The Apostles were then in 
what is now called Turkey in Europe, or that 
portion of Europe which is possessed by the 
Turks, who came over from Asia and conquered 
it. Philippi was formerly callad Dathos, but it 
afterwards took its name from Philip, a famous 
king of Macedon, father of him who is called 
Alexander the Great. 

It was during their residence in this town, 
that some circumstances occurred which can- 
not fail to be interesting. There is a very 
minute account of the conversion of an indivi- 
dual, which seems to have been the com- 
mencement and foundation of a large and 
flourishing Church ; for it will be remembered, 
that one of the epistles of St. Paul was ad- 
dressed to the christians at Philippi. It ap- 
pears, that on the bank of a small river, very 
near this city, there was some place which 
was used as a place of prayer, by whom or for 



52 LIFE OF ST.. PAUL, 

what special occasions we are not acquainted. 
From all the circumstance it was most likely 
to belong to the Jews, as they do not appear 
then to have had any synagogue in the city. 
Here, many women were gathered together on 
the Sabbath-days, and here Paul went to preach 
the Gospel. Perhaps there were many af- 
fected at the faithful exhibition of the word of 
God, but we only read of one remarkable in- 
stance of conversion, and that was of a woman 
named Lydia, of the city of Thyatira, who 
was by trade a seller of purple, and had come 
all the way from her home, which was a great 
distance, for the purpose of carrying on her 
business in this town of Philippi. This pur- 
ple, which Lydia sold, was either purple silk, 
which was very much worn by the people in 
the eastern countries, or else, which is most 
probable, it was the purple dye, which was an 
article manufactured from a fish, which the 
Jews called chalson, and which was very 
scarce and valuable. This fish was found in 
the Mediterranean sea, particularly in the 
neighbourhood of the city of Tyre. The Jews 
used this purple in dying the borders or fringes 
of their garments. As this woman was among 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 53 

those who resorted to the place appointed for 
prayer, she had the opportunity of hearing 
Paul; and the history tells us that the Lord 
opened her heart to a reception of the truth. 
In token of her conversion, and of her willing- 
ness to embrace the christian religion, she 
was baptized, and being, it is supposed, in 
tolerably good circumstances, she determined 
to extend her hospitality to the apostles. She 
was so urgent in her claims, that they appear 
to have abode in her house during their resi- 
dence in Philippi, except, of course, the time 
that they were so unjustly put in prison, as 
we shall soon learn. 

There was in the city of Philippi, a young 
woman, who, according to the scripture account, 
was possessed of a spirit of divination. It is 
difficult for us to understand exactly what is 
meant by this spirit of divination, but by most 
of the pious and judicious commentators, who 
have made the Scriptures a subject of much 
study, it is supposed, that she was actually 
possessed by some evil spirit. It is very cer- 
tain that God saw fit to permit such things in 
the days of our Saviour and his apostles, be- 
cause many of our Saviour's miracles are 
e 2 



54 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

entirely built on this fact, as any of our readers 
must know, Any one who will read the his- 
tory of our blessed Lord's life, which is given 
in the Gospels, will find this remark to be true. 
Why this was permitted, is another things 
which we have no right to enquire into, as 
" secret things belong unto the Lord our God." 
The age in which we live, is undoubtedly, for 
the most part, by the mercy of God, free from 
this terrible spectacle of human beings evident- 
ly possessed by evil spirits. But how far the 
same agency may be continued at present, it 
is impossible to tell ; though it is not at all 
hard, to believe, that it does exist to a very 
great degree. There have been great efforts 
made to prove, that this young woman must 
have been either an impostor, or that she was a 
ventriloquist, or that she was crazy, or that she 
was led away by some disease acting upon her 
imagination. We see no reason why St. Luke, 
who wrote this history, should not have known 
what was the true state of the case, much bet- 
ter than any persons in our days ; and for our 
part we always submit to the Scriptures, be- 
cause what is written is the word of God. The 
plain meaning of the passage is, that some evil 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 55 

spirit had possession of the body of this young 
woman, and enabled her to answer certain en- 
quiries which were made. 

Even in this case, however, we see the power 
of God exerted in a very w T onderful manner. 
The evil spirit in this young woman seems to 
have been compelled to bear testimony in 
favour of Paul and his company, just as the 
evil spirits in the days of our Sa\iour w T ere 
forced to bear witness to him. An instance 
of this may be remembered in Mark i. 24, 
where the devils cried out, "what have we to 
do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou 
come hither to destroy us? I know thee who 
thou art, the Holy One of God," So, this 
young woman, followed Paul, and cried, 
" These men are the servants of the most 
high God, who show unto 113 the way of sal- 
vation," This she did, for many days; and it 
placed Paul and his brethren in a very un- 
pleasant situation. For if they let her alone, 
some might have said, that there was an 
agreement between them, and that they w r ere 
all impostors together, and were but trying to 
deceive the people. Paul was grieved at 
this, and determined to run the risk of per- 



56 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

sedition, rather than to be suspected, or trou- 
bled as he was. He, therefore, in the name of 
Christ, commanded the evil spirit to come out 
of her ; and by the power of Christ, in whose 
name Paul spoke, the spirit immediately de- 
parted. Now this, as may be expected, cost 
them a great deal of trouble, and why? be- 
cause, as this young woman, by her tricks and 
fortune-telling, &c, brought her masters much 
money, so, as soon as she was deprived of this 
power, all the gains of her masters stopped at 
once. This made them angry, and as Paul 
and Silas had been most concerned, they seized 
upon them, and dragged them to the market- 
place, or rather to the court, which was pro- 
bably held at or near the market-place. In all 
the Roman provinces, and this Philippi was 
one, the court was composed of persons select- 
ed from among those who were most qualified. 
One out of every ten was taken. This court 
must have been then sitting, as the masters of 
this young woman went there immediately, and 
accused the Apostles. They did not, however, 
accuse the Apostles of casting out this evil 
spirit, but they took up the general accusation, 
that they troubled the city by their preaching. 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 57 

They accused them of teaching things which 
it was unlawful for Romans to hear. What 
could these things have been ? This is easily 
ascertained. Paul, wherever he went, preached 
the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Saviour of 
sinners. This they supposed, and very rightly 
supposed, was preaching another God than 
those they worshipped, for they worshipped 
idols. And it was unlawful to receive or 
worship any new deity, according to the laws 
of Rome, without an express decree of the 
Roman senate. This is unquestionably the 
ground upon which the magistrates condemn- 
ed Paul and Silas; and so at last, as in all the 
other cases, they suffered in the cause of their 
Lord and Master. 

No sooner was this accusation made, than 
the crowd of people who had followed raised a 
great clamour. The Apostles do not appear 
to have had any opportunity to defend them- 
selves by argument. The magistrates con- 
demned them at once, tore their clothes off, 
beat them with rods very severely, till their 
flesh was dreadfully lacerated. This is one 
of the three times in which Paul says he was 
beaten with rods. He alludes to it in the 



58 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

second chapter of his first epistle to the Thes- 
salonians, where he speaks of it as shameful 
treatment. Immediately after this, while they 
were partly naked, and their backs wounded 
and bleeding, they were cast into prison, in 
the charge of a cruel jailer. He appears to 
have been as bad as the rest of them ; for not 
content merely to put them into prison, he 
placed them in the lower dungeon, no doubt 
appropriated for the vilest convicts, thrust 
their feet into the stocks, and there meant to 
leave them in that dreadful situation all the 
night. God, however, ordered it otherwise : 
but the remarkable history of his interposition 
must be reserved for another chapter. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Wonderful transactions which occurred du- 
ring the imprisonment of Paul and Silas — 
Conversion of the jailer, and release of the 
Apostles. 

In our last chapter, we were called upon to 
contemplate the persecution which the Apos- 
tles were obliged to suffer at Philippi. They 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 59 

were not only hurried away to prison, but 
cast into a most dismal dungeon, and their 
feet made fast in the stocks. This was a 
measure of cruelty, certainly unnecessary, 
for they might have been easily secured in 
some far less painful posture. But we hear 
no complaints from them. They had counted 
the cost of being apostles of the Lord Jesus 
Christ; and were, therefore, prepared to sub- 
mit to every variety and every measure of 
suffering for the cause of the Master whom 
they so dearly loved. They knew that they 
were promoting his cause, and that was suf- 
ficient. They could leave all events in his 
hands, and at his disposal, assured that " all 
things must work together for good to those 
who love God ;" and that all these afflictions, 
which could be comparatively but " for a 
moment," would " work out for them a far 
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,' 1 
while they trusted in the Lord, and did his 
w r ork. 

One thing is certain, and very remarkably 
illustrated in this history, namely, that when 
we have the Lord with us, we are not only 
contented, but we can be happy anywhere, 



60 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

even in the midst of persecution and distress. 
Paul and Silas, in their dark and dismal dun- 
geon, and with their bleeding bodies, and 
with their feet in the stocks, were happy in 
the Lord ; and instead of murmuring and re- 
pining, or talking harshly about their ene- 
mies, they prayed aloud, and sung praises 
unto God. Their situation was so painful 
and uncomfortable, that they could not sleep, 
but it was not too uncomfortable for them to 
pray and to sing praises. How wonderfully 
must their hearts have been supported. They 
did not know but that they might be treat- 
ed even worse on the morrow, and perhaps 
murdered ; but it did not alter their state of 
mind ; they still prayed and sung, and so much 
and so earnestly were they engaged in this 
exercise, that the other prisoners heard them. 
It was in the midst of these interesting 
circumstances, that God saw fit to interpose 
most signally in their behalf. He brought 
about one of those dreadful visitations, called 
an earthquake, which, by his good providence, 
however, seems to have been confined to the 
prison, which was shaken to its very founda- 
tion. So hard was the shock, that all the 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 61 

bars and bolts of the prison were broken, and 
the chains by which the prisoners had been 
fastened were unloosed; so that they all, as 
well as Paul and Silas, had an opportunity of 
escaping. None did escape, however, be- 
cause the particular object which God appears 
to have intended, was the conversion of the 
jailer himself, which was brought about by 
these very circumstances. 

The noise of the earthquake, the bursting 
open of the prison doors, the breaking of 
bars and bolts, and the cries uttered by the 
prisoners, waked the jailer out of a sound 
sleep. As soon as he awoke, he found that 
the prison doors were open, and, probably, 
supposing that there had been an insurrection 
among the prisoners, and that the whole would 
be attributed to his carelessness, he drew his 
sword, and was just going to kill himself. 
What could have induced him to meditate so 
rash an act ? He knew that the laws of the 
Romans were so severe, that any carelessness 
of this kind might have cost him his life, and 
so he appears to have been unwilling to en- 
counter the disgrace. Poor man ! he did not 
know that if he had taken his own life, he 
F 



62 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

must have been lost for ever. However, Paul 
prevented his completing this rash act, for he 
cried out to him with a loud voice, " do thy- 
self no harm — for we are all here ;" nobody 
has escaped, you have no reason to be alarmed 
for your life. 

Now it appears that God made use of these 
singular circumstances, to impress the jailer 
with a sense of his own dreadful condition as . 
a sinner. The prison doors were open, and 
yet no one had escaped — -he was about to kill 
himself, and yet was prevented by the very 
person whom he had used so harshly. The 
Holy Spirit pressed all these things upon his 
mind, and brought him under the deepest 
convictions of sin. Under these feelings he 
called for a light, and trembling under the 
view which he had of his guilt and danger, 
seized the light, and sprung in and came 
trembling, and fell down at the feet of Paul 
and Silas, and with the deepest anxiety said, 
" Sirs, what must I do to be saved ?" There 
never has been, and there never can be, but 
one great and solemn answer to that question ; 
and the same answer is, of course, to be given 
to every inquiring soul, no matter in what 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 63 

country, or under what circumstances, the in- 
quiry may be made. " Believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. 5 ' From 
the brief history which is given, it would 
appear, that when the jailer ran in where 
Paul and Silas were, that all his family, either 
noticing his consternation, or being alarmed 
by what had occurred previously, followed 
him, and heard him put the question, and re- 
ceive the answer which have been just men- 
tioned ; for we are told, that Paul and Silas 
"spake unto him the word of the Lord, and 
to all that were in his house," that is, when the 
family had been thus providentially assembled, 
the Apostles took that opportunity of calling 
them to an acceptance of the Gospel terms of 
salvation ; and the influence of God's Spirit 
seems so remarkably to have accompanied the 
word preached, that not only the jailer but his 
family were converted. 

If it is asked, how are we to know that 
the jailer and his family were converted, there 
is an answer ready. We have the testimony 
of the conduct of the jailer, and the testimony 
of God's own declaration. 1* The jailer took 
the Apostles immediately into his own apart- 



64 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

merits in the prison ; he washed their stripes 
— sat meat before them, and was baptized, he 
and his. And 2. We have the testimony of 
God ; for in the 34th verse of the sixteenth 
chapter of Acts, which contains the account 
of these transactions, the history of the jailer 
concludes with this striking observation, he re- 
joiced, " believing in God, with all his house." 

All these things occurred in one night ; and 
truly it was a night of wonders, in which God 
displayed his care for his servants- — his power 
in the earthquake, and his grace in the con- 
version of the jailer and his family. 

When the morning came, the magistrates 
appear to have become somewhat alarmed 
at their unjust proceedings, for they had con- 
demned Paul and Silas without the least 
shadow of reason. To hush up the matter, as 
they supposed, they sent the sergeants or 
under-officers to tell the jailer that he might 
let the prisoners go. The keeper of the jail 
carried the message to Paul and Silas, and ad- 
vised them to depart, and take the liberty to 
which they were restored. But Paul judged 
that it would not be for the honour of the cause 
of Christ to let the matter rest. He said, 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 65 

" They have beaten us openly, uncondemnned, 
being Romans, and have cast us into prison,, 
and now do they thrust us out privily ? Nay, ve- 
rily, but let them come themselves and fetch 
us out." They conceived, that if they went 
away from the prison quietly, it would be a 
kind of acknowledgment that they had been 
justly used. So Paul said to the officers who 
were sent to release them, we will not go 
upon these terms ; we have been shame- 
fully treated and abused, and all without any 
cause ; we are determined that our innocence 
shall be publicly acknowledged by the very 
persons who have put us into prison — they 
must come and take us out themselves. Paul 
took care to let them know that thev were 
Romans, that is, as we have stated, Paul be- 
ing a native of Tarsus, had the privilege of a 
Roman citizen. As soon as the magistrates 
heard that Paul was a Roman citizen, they 
were as much frightened as they had before 
been insolent; and they had good reason, for 
Cicero, a great Roman lawyer, tells us, in a 
very celebrated oration of his against a ty- 
rannical governor of Sicily, who had shame- 
fully treated a person named Gavins, that by 
f 2 



66 LIFE OF ST, PAUL, 

the laws, called the Poreian and Sempronian 
laws, a Roman citizen could neither be bound 
nor beaten, These laws the magistrates had 
grossly violated, and Paul knew it, and he 
used this knowledge to make them come and 
confess his innocence. We find that they did 
this ; they came and besought Paul and Silas, 
that is pleaded with them, that they would 
forget and forgive the insult which they had 
received. The Apostles had no malice, all 
they wanted was that their characters should 
be vindicated ; and when this was done, they 
freely forgave all that had happened ; and at 
the earnest solicitation of the magistrates, 
they consented to go out of the city. The 
business for which they went to Philippi had 
been accomplished. They had preached the 
Gospel there, and the very circumstances of 
their imprisonment, the earthquake, the con- 
version of the jailer, and finally the acknow- 
ledgment of the officers themselves, all ope- 
rated in favour of the Christian religion, and 
rendered their stay less necessary. After 
they were brought out of the prison by the 
magistrates, in this public and honourable way, 
they entered into the house of Lydia, where 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 67 

they had been previously so hospitably enter- 
tained, and after they had met with certain 
persons who are called brethren, and com- 
forted them, and encouraged them, they de- 
parted from that city where they had suffered 
so much, and yet where they had found so 
much cause of rejoicing in the prosperity of 
the work of the Lord. From this visit, a 
church was founded, the members of which 
are addressed by St. Paul in his epistle to the 
Philippians, which he afterwards wrote to 
them from Rome. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Containing an account of St. Paul's mission, 
from the time that he left Philippic until he 
arrived at Athens. 

In any other cause than that of the Lord, 
and in any other persons than those so zea- 
lously engaged in the work of the Lord, it 
would seem as if the circumstances which 
took place at Philippi might have been suf- 
ficient to produce complete discouragement. 
But it seemed rather to inflame the zeal of 
the holy men of God, who w r ere engaged in 



68 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

this earliest missionary work. When the 
Apostles went from Philippi, they stopped for 
a moment at a place called Amphipolis. This 
town had been built about five hundred years, 
but had never risen to be a place of much 
consequence. The name signifies the "city 
of both ;" and it took this name from the 
singular circumstance, that the river Strymon, 
which separated Macedonia from Thrace, 
completely surrounded it ; so that, although it 
actually belonged to Macedonia, it seemed 
built on the boundary between both these di- 
visions. It is at present called Emboli, by 
the Turks. It does not appear that the Apos- 
tles preached here, but merely passed through 
it. The same appears to be true of Apollo- 
nia, of which nothing important is recorded, 
except that Augustus Caesar, who was em- 
peror of Rome when our Saviour was born, 
had, in his youth, gone to school in this place, 
for the purpose of learning the Greek lan- 
guage. The first place of any consequence 
where the Apostles stopped, was a city called 
Thessalonica, a very large and populous city, 
and worthy of being particularly noticed, be- 
cause here a church was founded. Thessa- 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL 69 

lonica was the largest city of Macedonia. 
It was beautifully situated at the head of a 
gulf, which bore the same name, and which 
makes up 5 in a northern direction, from the 
Archipelago. The city is said to have been 
ten or thirteen miles in extent, and must 
have contained a great number of inhabitants. 
Not a great many years ago, there were in 
that city thirty Christian churches, and thirty- 
six synagogues of the Jews, besides forty- 
eight mosques, or Turkish houses of worship ; 
and many of these mosques had been Chris- 
tian churches, One of them, which was a 
noble building, once supported by beautiful 
columns of marble, porphyry and jasper, and 
called the church of St. Demetrius, was sup- 
posed to have been built where the house 
stood in which St. Paul preached. In the 
year of our Lord 1430, exactly four hundred 
years ago, it was taken by the Turks, and 
like every thing else under the Turkish do- 
minion, has been ever since going to decay. 
Tn the time of the Apostle, however, which 
was 1778 years ago, you may judge, that it 
was in a very flourishing condition. 

It was to this distinguished and populous 



70 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

city, that Paul went from Philippi. There 
was a Jewish synagogue there, and Paul, ac- 
cording to his custom, went into this syna- 
gogue and preached to the congregation out 
of the Scriptures for three Sabbath-day3 suc- 
cessively, proving to them that Jesus was the 
Christ or Messiah; and that, according to their 
own Scriptures, it was necessary that he 
should suffer death, and rise again from the 
dead. It appears from the history, that some 
of the Jews were converted to the faith of 
Christ, and also a great number of the Greeks, 
and many of the first females of the city. 
But the rest of the Jews, being instigated by 
envy, and a false zeal for the religion of 
Moses, gathered together a parcel of idle and 
wicked men of notoriously bad character, and 
raising a tumult, set all the city in an uproar, 
and went to the house of Jason, where Paul 
lodged, for the purpose of abusing, and per- 
haps killing him. Providentially, they could 
not find the Apostles, but they took Jason, 
and some christian friends, to the magistrates, 
and made a complaint that he had harbour- 
ed these disturbers of the peace; for they 
called the Apostles men who had turned the 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 71 

world upside down. They accused Paul of 
wanting to spread treason, and doing things 
contrary to the laws of the empire, by preach- 
ing that Jesus was a King; and the magis- 
trates appear to have been not a little alarmed 
at this outcry, and they made Jason and the 
others give security for their good behaviour, 
as they supposed them implicated. It was, 
however, deemed a measure of prudence, that 
Paul and Silas should leave Thessalonica ; 
and so the converted brethren there, sent 
them by night on their way to Berea. Though 
St. Paul had been but a little while at Thes- 
salonica, the fruits of his labours there were 
glorious and lasting. His two epistles to the 
church in that city, show that the Gospel pre- 
vailed and triumphed in the midst of all the 
opposition. He speaks of the christians there 
in higher terms than of any others elsewhere ; 
for he thus writes in one of his epistles to 
them ; " Our Gospel came not unto you in 
word only, but also in power, and in the Holy 
Ghost, and in much assurance; having re- 
ceived the word in much affection,, with joy 
of the Holy Ghost : so that ye were ensamples 
to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. 



72 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

For from you sounded out the word of the 
Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, hut 
also in every place, your faith to God -ward is 
spread abroad." How are the hands of mi- 
nisters strengthened, and their hearts com- 
forted, when they can give such an account 
of their people ! 

By some learned writers, it is supposed, 
that the epistle of Paul to the Galatians was 
written either somewhere on his way to Thes- 
salonica, or during his short stay there. This 
idea is founded on the expression, which he 
uses in the second verse of the first chapter 
of that epistle, namely, that he not only wrote 
in his own name, but in the name of "the 
brethren who were with him." As Silas and 
Timothy had been with him when he was in 
Galatia, the epistle was probably written be- 
fore he was separated from them. Be this as 
it may, it is most likely that the epistle to the 
Galatians was written somewhere about this 
time, and that one object of the Apostle was 
to vindicate his own character and pretensions 
against the aspersions of a false teacher who 
had crept in, and was trying to undermine 
the respect and veneration in which Paul 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 73 

was held. But the great design of the 
Apostle was to prove the doctrine of justifica- 
tion by faith alone, against the false teaching of 
those who held up the necessity of obedience 
to the law of Moses, as necessary to establish 
their acceptance with God. This epistle, with 
that to the Romans, forms one of the most 
complete treatises which the world has ever 
seen, proving, beyond the possibility of cavil, 
that justification is a, free gift, proceeding en- 
tirely from the mercy of God, and not to be 
bought by obedience to the law of Moses, or 
any other law, but to be received from God, 
through the instrumentality of a living faith. 
On the supposition that this epistle was 
written from Thessalonica, it shows the zeal 
of the Apostle for the cause of God. which 
could induce him to take the pains to write a 
letter containing such deep thought and argu- 
ment, even in the midst of persecution. 

We have seen that Paul and Silas went to 
Berea, and Timothy soon followed. Berea is 
not very far from Thessalonica, in the same 
province, viz., Macedonia. Very little is any- 
where said of this place. According to cus- 
tom, Paul went, as soon as possible, into the 
G 



74 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

synagogue to preach Christ. The sacred his- 
torian, Luke, gives a much higher character 
of the Jews of Berea than of those of Thessa- 
lonica; for he says, that they received the 
word with readiness of mind, and searched 
the Scriptures daily, to ascertain whether 
what Paul preached to them about Christ as 
the Messiah was true. In consequence of 
thus searching the Scriptures, many of them 
believed, not only Jews, but Greeks of high 
rank, both men and women. 

Searching the Scriptures daily, and with 
ardent prayer to God for the teaching of the 
Spirit, is the only true method of becoming 
acquainted with the contents of the sacred 
volume. It was the exhortation of our Sa- 
viour to the Jews of his time, " Search the 
Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eter- 
nal life, and they are they which testify of 
me." We wish that every reader of this book- 
could indeed say, from the bottom of his heart, 
when he thinks of his Bible, 

" O may these heavenly pages be 

My ever dear delight; 
And still new beauties may I see, 

And still increasing light 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 75 

" Divine Instructor, gracious Lord. 

Be thou for ever near : 
Teach me to love thy sacred word, 
And view my Saviour there." 

But the labours of St. Paul were soon closed 
at Berea, for he was followed by the storm 
which had been raised at Thessalonica. The 
Jews of this latter place, when they found out 
that Paul was successfully employed at Berea, 
took the trouble to go there, and stirred up a 
violent commotion. It was therefore neces- 
sary for him, once more, to consult his safety 
by flight, though Silas and Timothy, as being 
less obnoxious, ventured to continue there for 
a time, that they might carry on the work of 
God. Thus, the opposition, as before, contri- 
buted to a more extensive propagation of the 
Gospel, and Satan defeated his own purposes. 
Those who had undertaken to escort Paul, 
used a stratagem, by which his enemies were 
prevented from waylaying him. They made 
as though they would go down to the sea, 
that is the Egean sea, near which Berea was, 
and this they did to make their enemies sup- 
pose that they meant to put him on board of 
some vessel, and send him away by water. 
Instead of doing this, however, they all went 



76 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

on foot as far as Athens, which was a long 
journey in those days, hardly less, we suppose, 
than two hundred miles. As soon as the bre- 
thren had seen him safe in Athens, they re- 
turned to Berea, being requested by St. Paul to 
tell Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon 
as possible. The history of the residence of 
Paul at Athens contains so many curious and 
interesting circumstances, that we shall make 
it the subject of a separate chapter. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Paul at Athens. 

As Athens has always been considered one 
of the most distinguished cities in the world, 
our readers will naturally expect that we should 
give some account of it, before we relate what 
there occurred to Paul. 

Athens lies on the Saronic gulf, opposite to 
the eastern coast of what is called the Pelo- 
ponnesus. It was built on a peninsula, formed 
by the junction of two rivers, one called the 
Cephissus, and the other the Ilissus. This 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 77 

city was begun by Cecrops, about 1550 years 
before the birth of our Saviour, and in the 
most ancient times it was called Cecropia. 
Under the government of Ecichthonius, the 
name was changed to Athens, in honour of the 
heathen goddess Minerva, for in Greek her 
name is called Athena. The Turks call it 
Athiniah, and sometimes Sestines. The old 
city was built on the top of some rocks, which 
lie in the midst of a wide and beautiful plain. 
It was about fifteen miles from the sea, but 
was connected with three fine harbours on the 
sea, by walls of great extent and strength. 
What most distinguished it, however, was, that 
it was the seat of learning; multitudes of the 
wisest of the old philosophers lived and taught 
there. Besides this, it was remarkable for its 
buildings, which for perfection of architecture, 
and elegance of appearance, have never been 
rivalled. The buildings which were in and 
about Athens have been the admiration of 
every succeeding age, and, though now mostly 
in ruins, are truly astonishing. These build- 
ings have formed models for other buildings 
all over the world, and in the city of Philadel- 
phia, the bank of the United States, and the 
g 2 



78 LIFE OF ST. PAUL* 

bank of Pennsylvania, and St. Andrew's church, 
are built after different Greek models. Athens 
lately contained 1300 houses, 12,000 inhabit- 
ants. 2000 of whom were Turks. Since the 
late political changes have taken place, Greece 
will probably be once more in a measure a 
free country, after having been four hundred 
years under the Turkish dominion ; and Athens 
may again become the seat of arts, and sciences, 
and literature, and, better than them all, the 
seat of the Christian religion. 

Now let us return to Paul. It will be re- 
membered, that after the difficulty at Berea, 
certain brethren accompanied him to Athens, 
and when they returned they carried a mes- 
sage from him to Silas and Timothy, for them 
to come immediately to him. At this place 
the history of Paul at Athens commences. 
We are told, that while he waited for these 
brethren, " his spirit was stirred within him, 
when he saw the city wholly given up to idol- 
atry ;" that is, he was greatly disturbed when 
he saw into what miserable ignorance and 
foolishness these people were sunk, though 
they thought themselves to be wiser than all 
the world beside. How true is the declaration 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 79 

in relation to all those who know not the true 
God, that " esteeming themselves to be wise 
they became fools." We need not wonder 
that Paul was disturbed, when we consider, 
that they worshipped in Athens, as it is said, 
30,000 gods. Paul, of course, could not be 
silent in the midst of such a state of things, 
but he did not proceed rashly. He was wise 
and prudent, and he made use only of all the 
lawful opportunities which presented them- 
selves. In the first place, as his custom was, 
he went into the synagogue of his own coun- 
trymen, the Jews, his " kinsmen after the 
flesh," as he delights to call them ; and there 
he calmly reasoned with them about the truth 
of the Christian religion. We are told also of 
" devout persons" being present at these times. 
By these devout persons is meant, those indi- 
viduals, from among the heathen, who had be- 
come proselytes to the Jewish religion, who 
had abandoned the worship of their dumb 
idols, and worshipped the true God of Israel 
with the Jews ; but who, like the Jews, knew 
nothing of Jesus Christ, and the way of salva- 
tion through him. But besides this, Paul went 
every day to the market-place, a place of gene- 



80 LIFE OP ST. PAUL. 

ral assemblage in that city, because there a 
great number of people were always collected, 
some on business, and many merely because 
they had not much to do, but were fond of 
going where they would find a multitude of 
others to talk to. As he continued doing this, 
for several days in succession, it, of course, 
made a considerable stir and noise in that city, 
and at last, some of the philosophers, or wise 
men, thought they would come and hear what 
he had to say. These philosophers belonged 
to two different parties, one called Epicureans, 
and the other Stoics. But before we go on 
with the history of Paul, our young readers, 
especially, would like to know something about 
these two sects of philosophers. The Epicu- 
reans were so called from a man by the name 
of Epicurus, who was born 342 years before 
our Saviour, and taught philosophy at Athens 
in his own delightful garden. Among the 
false and absurd notions which he taught, and 
his followers believed, was, that the world was 
not made by any Deity, but all came by chance, 
jumbled together in some strange way, they 
knew not how ; that God did not govern the 
world by his providence ; that every thing was 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. &1 

left to take care of itself; that the soul did not 
live after the body was dead ; that there were 
no future rewards or punishments, and that 
the chief happiness of man lies in pleasure. 
The Stoics did not take their name from that 
of their founder. His name was Zeno. They 
took their name from the Greek word stoa, 
which signifies a portico, or a piazza, because 
it was under a portico that Zeno used to walk, 
and teach his disciples, by conversing with 
them. The Stoics did profess to believe in 
the being of a God, but they supposed him to 
be corporeal, that is, to be somewhat like a 
man, with body, and hands, and feet ; they did 
not believe that this God could do as he pleas- 
ed, but that he was bound by what they called 
fate or necessity. They professed to practise 
morality, but were beyond all measure proud 
and haughty, actuated by principles inconsist- 
ent with the meek and humble religion of our 
blessed Saviour. These were the mighty wise 
men in their own conceits, who thought they 
would come and hear what Paul had to say for 
himself and cause. We are told that they 
" encountered him ;" that is, they attacked him, 
and disputed with him Qn some points which 



82 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

were contrary to their philosophy. Nothing 
in the world could have shown greater con- 
tempt than the name which they bestowed on 
Paul. "What will this babbler, say?" We 
understand by the word babbler, one who talks 
a great deal, to little or no purpose. But the 
Greeks meant a great deal more by it than this. 
The word babbler, in their language, means a 
gatherer of seeds, and was applied to those idle 
people who were in the habit of attending 
markets and fairs, for the purpose of picking 
up the seeds of corn which happened to fall 
out of the bags, and upon these they lived ; and 
so the word came to be used for an idle, good- 
for-nothing fellow, who picked up stories and 
lies, and carried them about to tell, for a liveli- 
hood. This is what some of these wise men 
called Paul. There were others among them, 
who said, " He seems to be a setter forth of 
strange gods," that is, different gods from what 
are worshipped at Athens ; and they judged 
this, because he preached to them Jesus, and 
the resurrection. They probably supposed that 
Paul wanted to add the name of Jesus to the 
list of their 30,000 gods, so that they might 
have another object of worship. It was on 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 83 

this account, probably, that they wished him to 
go to what was called Areopagus, that, they 
said, they might know what those things meant. 
With this wish he very cheerfully complied, as 
it would give him the opportunity of preaching 
the Gospel before the very greatest men in 
Athens. 



CHAPTER X. 

Paul before the Areopagus at Athens. 

The Areopagus was the oldest of the Athe- 
nian courts of justice ; and it was, at the same 
time, one of the most distinguished for its 
respectability, purity, and love of justice. It 
derived its name from the place where its 
members assembled, called the " Hill of 
Mars," which is a translation of the Greek 
word " Areopagus." This hill was a rocky 
eminence, in the centre of the city, very near 
the celebrated Temple of Minerva. The 
causes which were tried before this court, 
were murder, poison, robbery, arson, bad 
morals, and innovations in the state, and in 
religion. Because this court had the juris- 



84 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

diction of all crimes against religion, it has 
been supposed, by some, that Paul was carried 
before it to be tried. But there is no good 
reason to think this, for throughout the whole 
of the relation, as it is given in the Acts, there 
is no appearance whatever of a trial. We 
read neither of accusers nor judges, nor does 
Paul argue as if he was defending himself 
against any charge. The only reasonable ac- 
count of the matter is, that the philosophers 
who gathered round him found it incon- 
venient to listen to him in so great a crowd 
as was assembled in the market-place ; and 
they, therefore, brought him to an eminence 
on the Mars' hill, where the principal persons 
were assembled, and where they might listen 
to him without interruption, or noise. It was 
on this spot, and surrounded by one of the 
most noble and learned audiences in the world 
then, that Paul delivered one of his most 
masterly addresses. " Ye men of Athens," said 
he, " I perceive that in all things ye are too 
superstitious." The word superstitious is now 
used only in a bad sense, that is, we mean by 
it, that persons who are superstitious are ad- 
dicted to very foolish, and absurd, and ridicu- 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 85 

lous opinions and practices on the subject of 
religion. The words used by Paul, for he 
spoke to them in the Greek language, did not 
convey exactly that meaning; and, as his ora- 
tion was very mild and conciliating, we have 
no reason to believe that he meant any more 
than to convey the idea, that the Athenians 
were very remarkably and unusually given to 
their religious services. The same character 
of that people is given by some heathen 
writers. He goes on to say, as I passed by, and 
beheld the devotions of the people, among 
the many altars erected to different gods, " I 
found an altar with this inscription, to the 
unknown God." Now this shows that you 
are excessively devoted to your religion, when 
you even worship gods of whose names and 
qualities you thus confess yourselves ignorant. 
It is supposed by some, that by the term 
" The Unknown God," the philosophic Athe- 
nians actually did mean the God of the Jews ; 
for as He had no name like their false gods, 
and was not worshipped by statues and images, 
they had no other way of describing him. As 
there was in Athens a synagogue of the Jews, 
they could easily have obtained some idea of 
H 



86 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

the God of Israel, and as Isaiah says, " verily 
thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of 
Israel," it is very probable that, according 
to their foolish notions, they erected an altar 
to the God of the Jews, whom they knew not, 
and thought that was sufficient. It would ap- 
pear, that Paul had some impression of this 
kind, for he immediately says, " whom, there- 
fore, ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I 
unto you." He then proceeds to lay before 
them several of the great truths of religion ; 
beginning with the character of the great 
Creator : — " God that made the world, and all 
things therein, seeing that he is Lord of 
heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples 
made with hands; neither is worshipped with 
men's hands, as though he needed any thing, 
seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all 
things ; and hath made of one blood all na- 
tions ol men for to dwell on all the face of 
the earth, and hath determined the times be- 
fore appointed, and the bounds of their habi- 
tation ; that they should seek the Lord, if 
haply they might feel after him, and find him, 
though he be not far from every one of us : 
for in him we live, and move, and have our 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. -87 

being; as certain also of your own poets have 
said, for we are also his offspring." Now, as the 
object of Paul was to convince them that their 
idolatry was foolish and absurd, he uses the 
language of this poet, whose name was Aratus, 
and tells them, if we then are the children of 
God, because he created us, we ought to know 
better than to " think that the Godhead is 
like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by 
art, and man's device." He tells them, how- 
ever, that these times of former ignorance 
" God winked at;" not that he approved their 
ignorance, but that he saw fit to overlook it, 
and not to punish them ; but that now was the 
time when all this forbearance would be 
brought to a close, and when he required of 
all men every where to repent and turn from 
their sins, to serve the only living and true God. 
To repent, therefore, of all their sins, idolatry 
and every thing else which God hated, was the 
subject to which Paul applied his oration; 
and lest they should be deceived, and not think 
the matter so important as he had represented 
it, he proceeds to tell them of the day of 
judgment. " For God hath appointed a day," 
says he, " in which he will judge the world 



88 LIFE OF ST. FAI7L. 

in righteousness, by that man whom he hath 
ordained ; and of this, God has given assurance 
to all, in that he has raised him from the dead. 
Paul's remarks, about the resurrection of Christ 
from the dead, gave the Epicureans a good 
chance to interrupt him. They had been very 
much annoyed by his reasoning on the subject 
of the absurdity of their idolatry, but as he 
took what some of their own poets had said, 
they could raise no plausible objection against 
it. The doctrine of the resurrection, however, 
attacked their peculiar opinions, for they 
denied it ; and for fear of being put in the 
back ground, by hi.s superior reasoning, they 
began to mock and to ridicule ; and then others, 
most probably the Stoics, who did not think 
exactly with the Epicureans, said they would 
hear him some other time about these matters. 
We do not know that Paul had any other 
opportunity of speaking to these men. The 
probability is that he had not. But we here 
observe the truth of God's own declaration, that 
his " word shall never return unto him void, 
but shall accomplish that which he pleases, 
and prosper in the thing whereunto he sends 
it." We are told of the conversion of some 



LIFE OF ST. PAUI> 93 

blood be upon your own heads," that is, you 
are the authors of your own destruction, " I 
am clean ;" meaning, that he had discharged 
his duty as a faithful preacher, and so had de- 
livered his own soul. This is all that a minis- 
ter can do — be faithful in the declaration of 
the truth of God ; and then, if the people will 
not repent, he is not to blame. This whole 
matter is very fully stated in the 33d chapter 
of Ezekiel, the prophet. 

When Paul had given his last faithful warn- 
ing to the members of the synagogue, he went 
away, not from Corinth, but from among the 
Jews, and took his future residence with a 
Gentile by the name of Justus, who lived close 
by the synagogue. This Justus appears to 
have been a man very much like the centurion 
Cornelius, who is mentioned in the 10th 
chapter of the Acts. Here Paul remained, 
as we are told, a year and six months, teaching 
the word of God among them : that is, not 
among the Jews in their synagogue, but 
among those Jews and Gentiles who appear 
to have been willing to listen and be profited. 

Paul's preaching in the synagogue, how r ever, 
was not without effect. The chief ruler, by 



94 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

the name of Crispus, was converted, and all 
his family ; and many of the Corinthians, hear- 
ing* these things, were induced to attend on 
the preaching of Paul. Numbers of them also 
were converted and were baptized. We are not 
expressly told, in the history, that Paul had as 
yet suffered any violent persecution in this 
city of Corinth, though it is fair to infer that 
he did ,* because it is recorded, the Lord Jesus 
Christ came to him in a vision by night, and 
said, "he not afraid, but speak, and hold not 
thy peace. For I am with thee, and no man 
shall set oh thee, to hurt thee, for I have much 
people in this city." It is supposed, that 
during the period of this year and a half, Paul 
wrote his first and second epistles to the Thes- 
salonians ; the object of the first of which was 
to supply the converts at Thessalonica with 
arguments against the attacks of the philo- 
sophers and men of learning. The object of 
the second epistle, was to refute an error into 
which the Thessalonian Christians had fallen, 
as to the immediate coming of the day of 
judgment. 

While Paul was thus actively engaged in 
the cause of his Master, the Jews again en- 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 95 

deavoured to bring him into trouble. They 
brought him to the judgment-seat of Gallio, 
who was deputy of Achaia, for Achaia was 
that province of the Roman empire of which 
Corinth was the capital. Gallio would hear 
nothing on the subject, and therefore instantly 
dismissed the parties. He considered the 
Jews and their law, the Apostle and his Gos- 
pel, as all beneath his notice, and he left them 
to settle, as they chose, what he considered a 
frivolous contention. The sacred history tells 
us, " he cared for none of those things." If 
we may give credit to the accounts of Roman 
authors, Gallio was a man eminent for his ta- 
lents and literary attainments. He was bro- 
ther of Seneca, the famous moralist, and under 
the emperor3 Claudius and Nero acted as 
deputy-governor of Achaia. Not many years 
after the event here related, Gallio and his 
brother were murdered by order of Nero. His 
character is usually represented as amiable. 
His conduct on the occasion just mentioned 
deserves a mixture of applause and censure. 
His liberal turn of mind was evinced, by his 
refusal to punish Paul for his religious opinions 
merely, and his willingness to permit the Jews 



96 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

to think as they pleased, and to settle their 
disputes among themselves. We must, how- 
ever, strongly blame the contempt and indif- 
ference with which he appeared to treat sub- 
jects of such great importance, as that truth 
which God has revealed, and that salvation for 
which Jesus, the Son of God, laid down his life. 
He was also to blame for suffering violence to 
be done in his presence as a magistrate ; for 
he let the Greeks beat Sosthenes, whose only 
fault appears to be that he had favoured Paul. 
Paul remained, however, in Corinth some 
time longer, notwithstanding this strong oppo- 
sition. It was not the mere clamour of his 
enemies that could hasten his departure. When 
the time came, he took with him his two 
friends Aquila and Priscilla ; and we are told, 
that at Cenchrea, a neighbouring port, from 
which he set sail, he shaved his head, accord- 
ing to a certain vow which he had made, pro- 
bably for some great deliverance. When they 
arrived at Ephesus, he preached the word with 
his accustomed zeal, but soon left his dear 
companions there, though they wished him to 
continue. He "conferred not with flesh and 
blood," but pressed on with ardor wherever his 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 97 

duty seemed to call him. He hastened to 
Jerusalem with charitable contributions to the 
church, and having made a report to the 
brethren there assembled, and finished the 
purpose of his return, he went to Antioch in 
Syria, where he staid some time. 

During his absence from Ephesus, there 
came there a Jew, from Alexandria in Egypt, 
named Apollos, who appears to have been 
thoroughly acquainted with the Old Testament 
scriptures ; and, as far as we can judge, had 
been impressed with the truth of the Messiah- 
ship of Jesus, as the subject had been pro- 
claimed by John the Baptist. He probably 
,was a convert to some of the disciples of John. 
He preached his doctrine boldly in the syna- 
gogue. Aquila and Priscilla having heard 
of him, taught him more fully in the doctrine 
of Jesus the Saviour ; and when he was de- 
sirous of going away, they gave him letters of 
introduction to the Christian brethren. He 
appears to have produced considerable impres- 
sion on the Jews; for we are told, that he 
" mightily convinced" them, "publicly shew- 
ing, by the Scriptures, that Jesus was the 

Christ." 

I 



98 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Paul's third Missionary Tour — Principally 
confined to Ephesus. 

We mentioned in the last chapter, Paul's 
return to Jerusalem, and his subsequent visit 
to Antioch. After remaining a short time in 
Antioch, he set out on his third missionary 
tour. He first hastily passed through Phry- 
gia and Galatia, and then went to Ephesus, 
which he made his missionary station, and the 
principal scene of his labours. 

Ephesus was formerly one of the most dis- 
tinguished cities of Asia Minor. It was situ- 
ated on the river Cayster, which falls into the 
Egean sea. It is supposed, by some, to have 
been built as early as the days of David, king 
of Israel. It was most famous for the Temple 
of Diana, which is said to have been 425 feet 
long, 220 broad, with a roof supported by 127 
pillars, each 70 feet high. This temple was 
burned down 360 years before the time of our 
Saviour, but rebuilt. 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 99 

One of the most remarkable incidents 
which happened to Paul at Ephesus, was his 
meeting with some of the disciples of John 
the Baptist. None of the evangelists mention 
anything about the disciples of John the Bap- 
tist, after the imprisonment and death of their 
Master. It is more than probable, that the 
greater part of them became the followers of 
our Lord ; for John had instructed them so to 
do. It is very likely, however, that before 
John's death, some of them had left Palestine, 
and gone into various countries, carrying with 
them only the imperfect knowledge which 
they had derived from John. It would appear 
from the history, that on Paul's going to 
Ephesus, he met there several of these disci- 
ples; and in conversing with them, he ^ound 
that they had only received this imperfect in- 
struction — that they knew nothing about the 
baptism of the Holy Ghost. After being in- 
structed by Paul, he baptized them in the 
name of Christ, and laying his hands on them, 
imparted to them the miraculous power of 
speaking in various languages, and they were 
thus enabled to preach Jesus Christ. In 
Ephesus, Paul preached regularly about three 



100 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

months in the Jewish synagogue; but at last, 
in consequence of their hardness of heart 
and unbelief, he left them, and continued to 
preach in the school-house of a person named 
Tyrannus ; and here he continued for two 
years, and was eminently successful. 

God wrought many signal miracles by the 
hands of Paul. His fame became very great, 
and to those who could not come to him from 
a distance, were taken handkerchiefs or aprons, 
and their diseases were cured, and the evil spi- 
rits were driven out. There were, at this time, 
in Ephesus, certain wandering Jews, who ob- 
tained their living by going from place to 
place, and pretending to tell fortunes, cure^ 
diseases by using charms, and drive out evil 
spirits by conjuration. They were called ex- 
orcists. These persons, observing that Paul 
was able to work miracles in the name of 
Jesus, attempted to do the same. Among 
those who were most shameless and impudent 
in this business, were seven sons of one 
Sceva, a Jew. In their impious attempt, they 
came near losing their lives, for a man whom 
they attempted to cure of evil spirits nearly 
killed them. * 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 101 

The defeat of these pretenders and impos- 
tors, was the means of attracting greater no- 
tice towards the Apostle and his doctrine ; 
and, eventually, many were converted. As 
soon as this took place, they brought all the 
wicked books which told about charms and 
incantations, and such impious fooleries, and 
burned them. The value of the books which 
they burned was 50,000 pieces of silver. 
When the power of the Gospel is felt, every 
profane practice will be renounced, and even 
the love of money will be subdued. One or 
two questions here will not be misplaced. 
Have we given any such proof of our sub- 
mission to Jesus Christ as these believers 
did ? Are we willing to forsake those occu- 
pations and habits which, though profitable, 
cannot be retained with a good conscience 
towards God ? Ah ! how many reject the 
word of God, and perish eternally, because 
thev are determined to hold fast their wicked 
practices, or their unjust gains. 

After these things had happened, which we 
have just recorded, Paul felt desirous to go 
through Macedonia and Achaia; and he de- 
termined also, if the will of God should be 
i 2 



102 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

so, to go to Rome, after he had been once 
more to Jerusalem. As he could not, how- 
ever, leave Ephesus at this time, he deter- 
mined to send two of his disciples, Timothy 
and Erastus, to several places in Macedonia 
and Achaia. It is supposed that he despatch- 
ed at this time his first epistle to the Corin- 
thians, which discusses a great variety of very 
important points; and which, also, contains 
that wonderful chapter on the subject of the 
resurrection. 

The stay which Paul made in Ephesus, had 
nearly been fatal ; for shortly after the depar- 
ture of Timothy and Erastus, one Demetrius, 
a silversmith, excited a popular commotion. 
The silversmiths had been in the habit of 
earning a great deal of money, by making 
silver shrines ; that is, little temples made of 
silver, in imitation of the Temple of Diana, 
and selling them to the people. The preach- 
ing and miracles of Paul had injured this 
idolatrous business ; and, of course, the per- 
sons who had been in the habit of making 
money this way were angry. When they 
came together, Demetrius thus addressed 
them : " Sirs, ye know that by this craft, we 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 103 

have our wealth : so that not only this our 
craft is in danger „to be set at nought; but 
also that the temple of the great goddess Di- 
ana should be despised, and her magnificence 
should be destroyed, whom all Asia, and the 
world worshippeth. And when they heard 
these sayings, they were full of wrath, and 
cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephe- 
sians." The idea that their temple would be 
despised, and the goddess Diana no more 
worshipped, excited the indignation of the 
multitude to the highest pitch, and they cried 
out, saying, " Great is Diana of the Ephesians." 
This riot, which does not appear to have been 
very extensive at first, soon gathered the 
greater part of the people. The city became 
all confusion ; and the people having seized 
hold of Aristarchus and Gaius, two of Paul's 
travelling companions, hurried them away to 
the theatre. This was the place where the 
public plays were acted in honour of the god- 
dess Diana ; and also, where men were some- 
times set to fight with wild beasts. It is more 
than likely that it was in allusion to some such 
uproar, that Paul says, " if after the manner 
of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus." 



104 LIFE OF ST. PAUL* 

Paul does not appear, however, to have been 
present when this uproar began, but as soon 
as he heard of it, he wanted to go to the 
theatre, to speak to the people. His friends 
would not permit this, and he remained away. 
The meeting which took place in the theatre 
was nothing but confusion. No one knew 
what they came for — some cried one thing 
and some another. There was one Alexan- 
der, who was thrust forward, and attempted to 
speak; but as soon as the multitude knew 
that he was a Jew, they sat up a shout, and 
continued for about two hours, crying out 
nothing but " Great is Diana of the Ephe- 
sians." At last, however, a person who is 
called the town clerk, induced them to listen 
to him. He made a speech, in which he first 
flattered the Ephesians about their goddess 
Diana, and then defended Aristarchus and 
Gaius, for he said, they had not been speaking 
against Diana : and then he very sensibly ob- 
served, that if Demetrius and his fellow crafts- 
men had any cause against any one, they 
ought to prosecute them regularly at the court 
of the deputies. He then tells them, that the 
present was an unlawful assembly, and that if 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 105 

they did not take care, the Romans might 
punish them for a riot. This speech had the 
desired effect — they appear to have been 
alarmed, and the assembly was quietly dis- 
missed. And it was thus that Paul and the 
brethren were delivered from apparent danger 
by the providence of God. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Paul leaves Ephesus — Troas — Death and res- 
toration of Eutychus — Miletus — Address 
to the elders of Ephesus — Voyage and 
journey back to Jerusalem- — Close of third 
Missionary Tour. 

From the accounts which have been given 
in the last chapter, it appears that Paul was 
induced, by a proper prudence, to retire from 
Ephesus ; and, after having taken an affection- 
ate leave of his disciples, he directed his course 
to Macedonia. Ever intent upon his duty, he 
preached and exhorted from place to place, 
and thus passed on to the southern part of 
Greece. Here he abode three months, and 



106 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

as he was about to sail for Syria, his life was 
in danger, by the malice of the Jews, who 
watched some opportunity to destroy him. 
To prevent this, he altered his course, and took 
a circuit by land, as far as Philippi, whence he 
sailed to Troas; Sopater, Aristarchus, Secun- 
dus, Gaius, Timotheus, Tychichus, and Tro- 
phimus, all of them devoted followers of the 
Lord, having gone there to meet the Apostle. In 
this place he remained seven days, and on the 
first day of the week, the Christian Sabbath, or 
Sunday, as it is otherwise called, he addressed 
the disciples at Troas. As he was about to de- 
part the next day, the religious services were 
continued to an unusual length, even until 
midnight. It would seem strange in our days, 
to have our religious meetings so long con- 
tinued ; and, on ordinary occasions, it would 
not be at all adviseable. In seasons of reli- 
gious revival, however, when there are mani- 
fest indications of the outpouring of the Spirit 
of God, it may sometimes be necessary to 
devote more than the usual time to devo- 
tional and other religious exercises. The 
more deeply our hearts are affected with divine 
things, and the stronger our impressions be* 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL 107 

come of the love of Christ, the more eager 
shall we become both to hear and declare the 
truths of the Gospel. The men of the world 
may wonder and revile ; but while they devote 
days and weeks to the pursuit of vain plea- 
sures, we ought not to think a few hours too 
much to devote to exercises of a spiritual 
character, and to the service of our God. The 
christians at Troas, we are told, assembled in 
an upper chamber, which was in the third story. 
In the window, there sat a young man, named 
Eutychus, who, either because he was inatten- 
tive, or from some reason which the history 
does not mention, became so overpowered 
with sleep, that he fell down to the ground, 
and was taken up dead. This circumstance 
naturally produced confusion and distress; till 
Paul restored him to life, by the miraculous 
power which had been given him. It is 
w r icked to be so inattentive to the preached 
word, as to fall asleep in church, and it is 
highly disrespectful to God. 

After the restoration of the young man, 
Paul went on with his discourse, even to the 
break of day, and then he commenced his 
journey, which he pursued on foot, as far as 



108 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

Assos, a few miles from Troas. At Assos, 
which was a sea-port opposite the island of 
Lesbos, in the Egean sea, he took passage in 
the vessel in which several of his friends had 
started from Troas, and went over to Mitylene, 
which is the capital of the island of Lesbos, 
and situated on a penninsula, on the eastern 
side. The next day, they passed the island of 
Chios, now called Scio, that ill-fated island, 
which suffered so much from the Turks during 
their last war with the Greeks. The next day, 
after passing Scio, they arrived at the island 
of Samos, and passed over to the main land, 
to a place called Trogyllium, which was situ- 
ated on a point of land which projected into 
the sea, westward towards Samos. The next 
day they reached Miletus, which was a sea- 
port town of that division of Asia Minor called 
Caria ; of which it was the capital. As Paul 
was in haste to get to Jerusalem by a certain 
time, he purposely passed by Ephesus, with- 
out stopping, but as he was very anxious to 
see the principal persons of the church at 
Ephesus, he sent for them to come to him at 
Miletus, which they could easily do, as the 
distance was only about twenty miles. The 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 109 

Apostle wished to see the elders of this 
church, that he might give them his parting 
charge and benediction. When they arrived, 
he addressed them in the following most faith- 
ful and affectionate language. Nothing could 
be more tender, sincere, and affecting. It is 
an address which surpasses the highest strains 
of heathen eloquence. It is the language of 
a Christian. To the assembled elders of that 
church, in whose cause he had laboured and 
suffered so much, he says, — "Ye know, from 
the first day that I came into Asia, after what 
manner I have been with you at all seasons, 
serving the Lord with all humility of mind, 
and with many tears and temptations, which 
befell me by the laying in wait of the Jews : 
and how I kept back nothing that was profit- 
able unto you, but have showed you, and have 
taught you publicly, and from house to house, 
testifying both to the Jews, and also to the 
Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith 
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now be- 
hold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, 
not knowing the things that shall befall me 
there: save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth 
in every city, saying, that bonds and afflictions 
K 



110 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

abide me. But none of these things move me, 
neither count I my life dear unto myself, so 
that I might finish my course with joy, and 
the ministry which I have received of the Lord 
Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of 
God. And now behold, I know that ye all, 
among whom I have gone preaching the king- 
dom of God, shall see my face no more. 
Wherefore I take you to record this day, that. 
I am pure from the blood of all men. For I 
have not shunned to declare unto you all the 
counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto 
yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which 
the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to 
feed the church of God, which he hath pur- 
chased with his own blood. For I know this, 
that after my departing shall grievous wolves 
enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 
Also of your own selves shall men arise, speak- 
ing perverse things, to draw away disciples 
after them. Therefore watch, and remember, 
that by the space of three years I ceased not 
to warn every one night and day with tears. 
And now, brethren, I commend you to God, 
and to the word of his grace, which is able to 
build you up, and to give you an inheritance 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 1 1 1 

among ail them which are sanctified. I have 
coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. 
Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands 
have ministered unto my necessities, and to 
them that were with me. I have showed you 
all things, how that so labouring ye ought to 
support the weak, and to remember the words 
of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more 
blessed to give than to receive." And when 
he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and 
prayed with them all. And they all wept sore, 
and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him, sor- 
rowing most of all for the words which he spake, 
that they should see his face no more. We 
do not feel surprised at their great distress, 
when we consider that they were assured they 
were to see him no more, and that he was 
going to persecution and to death. 

The elders of the Ephesian church, how- 
ever, would not part w T ith the beloved Apos- 
tle here ; they accompanied him to the vessel 
to take their final leave of him whom they 
would never see again. 

The Apostle, w r ith his travelling friends, 
set sail from Miletus, and first touched at the 
island of Coos, which was opposite the south- 



112 LIFE OF ST. PAUL, 

west extremity of the main land of Asia Mi- 
nor. From thence they passed, the day after, 
to Rhodes, which is a large and distinguish- 
ed^ island of the Mediterranean : and from 
thence to Patara, a sea-port on the main land, 
in the province of Lycia. Here they took 
passage in another vessel, bound to Phenicia ; 
and having passed by the island of Cyprus, 
on the south side, they arrived at ancient 
Tyre, a sea-port of Phenicia. This was once 
one of the most famous cities in the world, 
for its wealth and commerce, and is connected 
with a great many interesting incidents of 
Scripture history.* As the ship in which 
Paul and his brethren were passengers was to 
take in a load at this place, they had the op- 
portunity of remaining seven days, which they 
did not regret, as they found several christians 
there. In the city of Tyre, some of the chris- 
tians, acting under a prophetic impulse, 
warned Paul of his danger, and intreated him 
not to go to Jerusalem. But, being confident 
that duty called him, he did not shrink from 
his purpose. The christians of Tyre showed 

* See Bible Dictionary, published by the Am. S. S. T\ 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 113 

great affection for Paul, with their wives and 
children ; they went with him out of the city 
to the place of shipping. There they kneeled 
down on the shore, and the Apostle again 
prayed with them. He took ship, and landed 
at Ptolemais, a town now called Acre, where 
they remained but one day. The object of 
stopping at this place, seems merely to see 
the Christian brethren there. From this 
place, Paul and his company went to Cesa- 
rea, where they became the guests of Philip 
the deacon. 

At this place he remained a considerable 
length of time, and received express informa- 
tion of the difficulties and dangers which 
awaited him. A prophet named Agabus, 
came from Judea to Cesarea to see Paul ; and, 
as it was customary in those days, for prophets 
to express their meaning, by actions which 
are called symbolical, Agabus took Paul's 
girdle, and put it round his own hands and 
feet, and then said, " So shall the Jews at 
Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this 
girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of 
the Gentiles." — As may be supposed, after 
this, Paul was most earnestly desired by his 
k2 



114 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

companions, as well as the brethren at Cesa- 
rea, to give up his intention of going to Jeru- 
salem. But as no dangers could intimidate 
his mind, he would not yield to their intrea- 
ties. It is truly affecting to observe his dis- 
tress, when he finds them overwhelmed with 
grief on his account. " What," says he, " do 
ye mean to weep, and break mine heart? — 
for I am ready not only to be bound, but to 
die at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord 
Jesus." This showed that he was possessed 
of the tenderest affections, and that he deter- 
mined to persevere in his purpose, only from 
a supreme regard to the Saviour, whom he 
loved and served. As they all saw that he 
could not be persuaded, but had taken up the 
holy purpose of glorifying God, even by his 
death, should it be necessary, they ceased 
their importunities, and with deep submission 
to the will of God, declared, " The will of the 
Lord be done." 

From Cesarea they proceeded to Jerusalem, 
by land, a distance of about sixty or seventy 
miles ; and they were welcomed at the house 
of an old disciple of Cyprus, called Mnason. 
They were gladly received by the church at 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 115 

Jerusalem; and thus finished the third mis- 
sionary tour of Paul; in which, as before, 
through dangers, trials, and difficulties, he 
had been preserved. Paul's missionary re- 
port will be reserved for the following chapter. 
Before concluding this chapter, however, it 
would be well to observe, that in the interval 
between the time when Paul left Ephesus, 
and his arrival at Jerusalem, he is supposed, 
by some of the best critics, to have written 
his first epistle to Timothy, his second epis- 
tle to the Corinthians, and his epistle to 
the Romans ; so that his time was all occu- 
pied in his Master's cause — in writing for the 
confirmation of the churches in the truth, and 
in preaching Jesus Christ. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Paul gives his report to the church — Is in- 
duced to perform some ceremonial observ- 
ances — Is seized in the temple — Rescued hy 
Lysias, and addresses the Jews, 

The day after Paul arrived at Jerusalem, 
he made his missionary report. We are told 



118 LIFE OF ST. PAUL, 

that he went in unto James, and that all the 
elders were present. This was, it would ap- 
pear, an assembling of the church of Jerusa- 
lem, or at least the chief officers of the church ; 
and to them Paul gave his interesting narra- 
tive of his success among the Gentiles. His 
foreign mission had been long and laborious, 
and dangerous, but he was amply repaid when 
he considered that the cause of his Master was 
advanced. This missionary report of Paul is 
not recorded, but we are at no loss for a know- 
ledge of the principal events which it detail- 
ed, because we have the history in the pre- 
vious chapters of the Acts. As might be ex- 
pected, from men whose hearts were deeply 
engaged in the glorious cause of Christ, James 
and the elders of the church, were rejoiced, 
and glorified God, who had thus seen fit to 
crown the labours of Paul with so rich a bless- 
ing. In the midst of their congratulations, 
however, they took occasion to state to Paul, 
that many of the Christian converts from among 
the Jews were prejudiced against him, be- 
cause he everywhere encouraged the Jewish 
converts to neglect and forsake the ceremonial 
observances of the law of Moses. This shows 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 117 

how very difficult it is for persons to get over 
the prejudices of early education ; and some- 
times even the best Christians are so far in- 
fluenced by their former views and habits of 
thinking, as very much to injure their useful- 
ness. It was unquestionably right in Paul to 
discourage the Jewish converts from adhering 
to the mere ceremonial observances of the Mo- 
saic law, because Christ had rendered those 
ceremonial observances unnecessary, when he 
became himself that sacrifice for sin, towards 
which all the institutions of the law had point- 
ed. We think, therefore, that James and the 
elders of the church were over scrupulous, 
in wishing Paul to comply with some cere- 
monies, merely to satisfy unreasonable preju- 
dices. But as we, of the present day, are not 
the competent judges of a matter, all the cir- 
cumstances of which are not presented to our 
minds, we may be sure, that they acted for 
what they had reason to suppose the best in- 
terests of the church. In order, therefore, to 
silence objectors, they advised Paul to join 
himself w T ith four persons who were bound 
by some particular vow to perform some reli- 
gious ceremonv. With this advice he com- 



118 LIFE OF ST. PAUL, 

plied, not through a sinful or temporizing 
spirit, but that he might not wound any weak 
consciences; and, by conforming in matters 
merely indifferent, might gain the more to 
the love and service of Christ; such was his 
condescension and tender regard to the in- 
firmities and mistakes of others. 

It ought not to be concealed, that the dis- 
position evinced in the Jewish converts, to 
cherish a prejudice against Paul, was un- 
reasonable and sinful. They ought to have 
taken it for granted, that so eminent and la- 
borious and self-denying a servant of Jesus 
Christ, could not do any thing to injure the 
cause of his Master. And we ought always 
to beware, for ourselves, lest we entertain or 
receive any unfavourable opinion of a brother, 
where there are no good grounds. This very 
prejudice of the Jewish converts was very 
near to have cost Paul his life, as we shall see. 

All the ceremonial observances, connected 
w T ith vows, and sacrifices, &c. had to be per- 
formed in the temple. While Paul was there, 
attending to this duty, some Jews from Asia 
saw him, and they at once made a great tu- 
mult, and seized him. Our readers proba- 



LIFE OF ST. TAUL. 119 

bly know that there were certain parts of the 
temple into which it was unlawful for any but 
a Jew to enter. The Gentiles, or heathen, 
were not permitted to go beyond what was 
called the court of the Gentiles. These 
Jews of Asia had seen Paul in the city, in 
company with a heathen convert from Ephe- 
sus, named Trophimus, one of those who 
joined him at Troas, and they at once said, 
that he had brought him into the temple, 
supposing that he was one of the four with 
Paul. All this was false, but it answered the 
purpose of these wicked men; and on this 
ground there was a great commotion, and the 
people seized Paul, and drew him out of the 
temple, and closed the gates, and they were 
just about to kill him, when he was rescued 
by a Roman officer, called the captain of the 
temple. The Romans kept a band of sol- 
diers and an officer, in a tower or fort, which 
was called the Tower of Antonia. This tower 
was higher than the courts of the temple ; so 
that the guard could see what was going on 
below, and there was a stairs leading down 
from it to one of the porticos. When the 
captain then, found that there was a riot be- 



120 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

low, he immediately went down with his sol- 
diers, and took Paul out of the hands of the 
people, who were beating him. Paul was 
then bound with two chains, and the chief 
captain, Lysias, tried to find out what the mat- 
ter was ; but as the Jews were too much en- 
raged to be able to make any reasonable ac- 
cusation, he commanded him to be taken up 
into the tower. When they reached the stairs, 
Paul requested to speak to the chief captain, 
and Lysias asked him if he could speak Greek, 
for he supposed he was a certain Egyptian, 
who was the leader of a band of murderers ; so 
much mistaken was the character of this man 
of God. Paul, however, undeceived him, and 
told him, that he was a Jew, a native of Tarsus, 
and asked his permission to address the people. 
He readily granted his request. Paul, stand- 
ing on the stairs, beckoned to the people who 
were below in the court of the temple, in order 
to obtain a hearing. When the commotion had 
subsided, and there was great silence, he ad- 
dressed them in the Hebrew language, in the 
following speech : — 

" Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my 
defence which I make now unto you. (And 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 121 

when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew 
tongue to them, they kept the more silence : 
and he saith,) I am verily a man which am a 
Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet 
brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, 
and taught according to the perfect manner 
of the law of the fathers, and was zealous to- 
ward God, as ye all are this day. And I per- 
secuted this way unto the death, binding and 
delivering into prisons both men and women. 
As also the high priest doth bear me witness, 
and all the estate of the elders : from whom 
also I received letters unto the brethren, and 
went to Damascus, to bring them which were 
there, bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punish- 
ed. And it came to pass, that, as I made my 
journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus 
about noon, suddenly there shone from hea- 
ven a great light round about me. And I fell 
unto the ground, and heard a voice saying 
unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou 
me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? 
And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, 
whom thou persecutest* And they that were 
with me saw indeed the light, and were 
afraid ; but they heard not the voice of him 
L ' 



122 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

that spake to me. And I said, What shall I 
do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, 
and go into Damascus ; and there it shall be 
told thee of all things which are appointed 
for thee to do. And when I could not see 
for the glory of that light, being led by the 
hand of them that were with me, I came into 
Damascus. And one Ananias, a devout man ac- 
cording to the law, having a good report of all 
the Jews which dwelt there, came unto me, and 
stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive 
thy sight. And the same hour I looked up 
upon him. And he said, The God of our fa- 
thers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest 
know his will, and see that Just One, and 
shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For 
thou shalt be his witness unto all men, of what 
thou hast seen and heard. And now, why tar- 
riest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash 
away thy sins, calling on the name of the 
Lord. And it came to pass, that when I was 
come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed 
in the temple, I was in a trance; and saw 
him saying unto me, Make haste, and get 
thee quickly out of Jerusalem : for they will 
not receive thy testimony concerning me. 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 123 

And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned 
and beat in every synagogue them that be- 
lieved on thee : and when the blood of thy 
martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing 
by, and consenting unto his death, and kept 
the raiment of them that slew him. And he 
said unto me, Depart : for I w T ill send thee far 
hence, unto the Gentiles." 

When Paul had reached this part of his 
speech, the multitude interrupted him, for the 
idea, that God would be merciful to the Gen- 
tiles, was very offensive to their pride and 
prejudices. As soon, therefore, as he men- 
tioned the word Gentiles, they began to shout, 
"away with such a fellow from the earth, for 
it is not fit that he should live." The anger 
of the people seemed to make them insane ; 
for they cast off their clothes, and threw dust 
into the air. The chief captain then ordered 
Paul into the fort, and determined to have him 
scourged, in order to make him confess the 
reason why the people cried so much against 
him. Here again, Paul found the benefit of 
pleading his rights as a Roman citizen. When 
they bound him, in order to be scourged, he 
asked the centurion, if it was lawful to scourge 



124 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

a Roman citizen, and especially when he was 
not condemned for any fault.- Paul knew that 
it was unlawful, and so did the centurion ; and 
he went immediately to the chief captain, and 
said, you had better be careful about what 
you do, for this man is a Roman citizen. On 
hearing this, Lysias himself went down to 
Paul, and asked him if he was really a Roman 
citizen. Paul answered him, Yes. The tri- 
bune replied, that he had obtained the privi- 
lege of citizenship at a very great expense ; as 
much as to say, that such a creature as he 
supposed Paul to be, never could have pro- 
cured that rank. But, said Paul, I was born 
with this right. They left off then the cruel 
torture they were about to inflict, and loosed 
him. The tribune was very much alarmed at 
what he had done : he knew that he had 
been guilty of an unlawful act, in binding 
one who was a Roman citizen. So, by the pro- 
vidence of God, Paul that time escaped being 
scourged ; which, in those days, was a most 
dreadfully cruel punishment. 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 125 



CHAPTER XV. 

Paid brought before the Sanhedrim — Dis- 
pute between the Pharisees and Sadducees 
— Conspiracy against the life of Paid — Is 
sent to Cesar ea. 

In the last chapter, we stated how, in 
the providence of God, Paul escaped being 
scourged. As Lysias could not, therefore, get 
his information by torturing Paul, he deter- 
mined to assemble the Jewish Council, which 
was called the Great Sanhedrim. This he did 
the very next day ; and when they had assem- 
bled, he took Paul under his own charge, 
and placed him before them, to be tried. 

As soon as the assembly was in order, Paul 
began his defence, by saying, — " Men and 
brethren, I have lived in all good conscience 
before God, until this day." Now, no one 
can see anything in these few words which 
ought to have given offence ; yet, no sooner 
had he spoken them, than Ananias, who was 
l 2 



126 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

called the high priest, commanded those who 
stood by Paul to strike him on the mouth. 
Paul, however, was one of those men who 
knew his own rights, and did not choose to he 
trampled upon. He answered at once, to the 
high priest, " God shall smite thee, thou 
whited wall : for dost thou sit to judge me 
according to the law, and yet dost thou com- 
mand me to be smitten contrary to the law?" 
Those who were about, immediately said to 
Paul, " Revilest thou God's high priest?" 
And Paul immediately answered, I was not 
aware that it was the high priest, or I would 
not have spoken so severely ; for it is written, 
thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy 
people. 

The question has been asked, and it has 
been made an objection by infidels to the 
truth of the whole relation, how could Paul 
be ignorant that it was the high priest to 
whom he spoke ? There are a variety of an- 
swers given : some suppose that Paul was not 
acquainted with the person of the high priest, 
and some suppose that he had not Lis robes on. 
All these are unsatisfactory. There is one rea- 
son, which not only accounts for Paul's conduct, 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 127 

but which more and more confirms the truth 
of the whole relation, because we have his- 
tory to give us light. Ananias, in conse- 
quence of some disturbance between the Sa- 
maritans and the Jews, had a few years 
before been dispossessed of his office, and 
sent as a prisoner to Rome. He was soon 
afterwards released, however, and returned to 
Jerusalem. In the mean time, Jonathan had 
been made high priest ; Jonathan was mur- 
dered by Felix; and between this and the time 
when Ismael was made high priest, there 
was a vacancy, when there was no regular 
high priest. Now it happened exactly at this 
time, that Paul was tried ; and the sanhe- 
drim, being destitute of a president, Ananias 
took it upon himself, as he was once high 
priest, to act in that capacity. He had no 
right to do so ; and this Paul knew, and there- 
fore Paul spoke with perfect correctness, and 
at the same time, with a severe censure upon 
Ananias, for his usurpation of authority, w r hen 
he said, I was not aware that it was the 
high priest. It is worthy of very particular 
observation, that this passage, which has been 
used as an objection against the truth of the 



128 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

relation, is one which, on the contrary, tends 
more fully to confirm it — so sure it is, that 
truth will prevail. 

But to return to the history. Paul saw at 
once, from the disposition which was mani- 
fested in the council, that it was impossible 
for him to have a fair trial ; and, therefore, 
he determined not to attempt to defend him- 
self at this time, but opened a subject which 
would divide the assembly, and gain him some 
favour. The great sanhedrim was composed 
of those who belonged to the two rival sects 
among the Jews, called Pharisees and Saddu- 
cees ; the latter of these, namely, the Saddu- 
cees, denied the doctrine of the resurrection 
and the existence of spirits. The Pharisees 
held both these doctrines. Instead, there- 
fore, of going on with his defence, Paul cried 
out, " Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, 
the son of a Pharisee ; of the hope of the re- 
surrection of the dead I am called in ques- 
tion." This was the real fact. It was his 
belief in Christ, which was founded on the 
doctrine of his resurrection, and on this, all 
the difficulty arose. This remark of Paul's 
was enough : the Pharisees belonging to the 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 129 

council, said at once, that they found no evil 
in him. This led to a dispute between them 
and the Sadducees ; and, between them both, 
Paul came near being injured. The chief 
captain, fearing lest Paul should have been 
pulled in pieces by them, commanded the 
soldiers to go down and to take him by force 
from among them, and to put him into the 
castle. 

It is reasonable to suppose, that in the 
midst of all these trials and discouragements, 
and dangers, Paul needed more than ordinary 
consolation. The next night, the Lord Jesus 
appeared to him, and said to him, " Be of good 
cheer, Paul : for as thou hast testified of me 
in Jerusalem, so thou must bear witness of 
me also at Rome." This, at least, assured 
Paul that he should at that time escape the 
malice of the Jews. 

Bigotry and revenge are never satisfied but 
with the ruin or destruction of the object 
against which they are levelled. As Paul 
had not been condemned by the council, and 
as he was under the guard of the Roman sol- 
diers, his enemies found that they could not 
openly, and under the pretence of law, take 



130 LIFE OF ST. PAUL 

away his life. But what they could not do in 
one way, they purposed to accomplish in an- 
other. As early as day-light the next day, 
about forty of the Jews met together privately, 
and bound themselves by a curse, that they 
would not eat until they had killed Paul. 
This most wicked conspiracy against his life 
was very artfully planned, and the men obtain- 
ed the sanction of the chief priests and el- 
ders. The plan which they proposed, was 
this : they advised, that the next day the 
council should request the chief captain to 
bring Paul once more before them for examin- 
ation ; and their object was to fall upon him 
and kill him suddenly, between the stairs 
which led down from the castle and the room 
in which the council was to be assembled. 
This wicked design, God saw fit to disappoint ; 
for by his providence, it so happened that 
their plans were overheard by the son of Paul's 
sister. This young man went immediately 
into the castle, and informed Paul, who re- 
quested one of the centurions to take him to 
the chief captain. There he was examined 
privately, and Lysias putting full credit in his 
story, dismissed him, with a caution to say 



LIFE OF ST. FAUL. 131 

nothing about it. As soon as the young man 
had gone, Lysias ordered two centurions to 
get ready a guard of two hundred soldiers, 
and two hundred spearmen, and seventy horse- 
men, and to be ready at nine o'clock that 
night. Thus God made this captain careful 
to preserve the life of Paul, by sending him 
to Cesarea under so strong a guard, that it 
was impossible for him to be molested. In 
order to explain the matter, Lysias wrote the 
following letter to Felix, the governor, and 
sent it with the party who went as a guard: — 
"Claudius Lysias, unto the most excellent 
governor Felix, sendeth greeting. This man 
was taken of the Jews, and should have been 
killed of them : then came I with an army, 
and rescued him, having understood that he 
was . a Roman. And when I would have 
known the cause wherefore they accused him, 
I brought him forth into their council : whom 
I perceived to be accused of questions of 
their law, but to have nothing laid to his 
charge worthy of death, or of bonds. And 
when it was told me how that the Jews laid 
wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, 
and gave commandment to his accusers also, 



132 LIFE OjF ST. PAUL. 

to say before thee what they had against him. 
Farewell." At the time appointed, viz. nine 
o'clock at night, the soldiers took Paul, as thej^ 
had been commanded, and under this strong 
guard, they travelled all night ; and before they 
stopped, reached a place called Antipatris, 
about forty-two miles from Jerusalem, and 
twenty-six from Cesarea. From this place, 
the soldiers were sent back, and Paul travelled 
the rest of the distance under the guard of 
the horsemen only ; for they knew that it would 
be impossible for the Jews to follow them 
quick enough to do any mischief. When the 
party reached Cesarea, Paul was immediately 
delivered up to the governor Felix, and he 
was kept in custody, in a place called Herod's 
judgment-hall. Felix summoned the accusers 
of Paul to come down to Cesarea, where he 
would try the cause himself. How wonderful 
' does the providence of God appear, in thus, 
time after time, rescuing Paul out of the 
hands of his persecutors. The trial and de- 
fence of Paul will form the interesting sub- 
ject of another chapter. 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 133 

CHAPTER XVI. 

PauVs Defence before Felix. 

Five days after the summons, Ananias and 
the elders, with a lawyer whom they had em- 
ployed, named Tertullus, and who appears to 
have been distinguished for his ingenuity and 
eloquence, came down to Cesarea, and opened 
the cause against Paul in a way which was cal- 
culated at once to prejudice the Governor in his 
own favour, and against Paul. No honest man, 
however, could have taken the course which 
Tertullus did, for he told the most abominable 
falsehoods, just to flatter the vanity of Felix. 
Felix was notorious for his wickedness, and 
his bad administration of the government; 
besides this, he had, a little while before, mur- 
dered the high priest Jonathan ; and yet Ter- 
tullus could be so vile, as to flatter him about 
the very worthy deeds which he had done in 
favour of the nation, and thank him for his 
goodness. As Tertullus had said so many 
flattering things to the Governor, he did not 
M 



134 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

seem to think it necessary to bring any proof 
against Paul. All he did, was merely to ac- 
cuse him of being a pestilent fellow, a mover 
of sedition ; a ring leader of the Nazarenes, as 
the Christians were contemptuously called. 
He also accused him of profaning the temple, 
and said that they would have judged Paul 
according to their law, but that Lysias violent- 
ly took him out of their hands. The Jews, 
who came with Tertullus, agreed with him in 
these accusations. 

Paul saw at once, that they had brought no 
proof against him, for there was none to bring, 
and when the Governor beckoned to Paul to 
commence his defence, he very politely began 
by expressing his willingness to be tried by 
Felix, because he had been in office several 
years, and of course was presumed to be ac- 
quainted with Jewish laws and customs. He 
says : — " Forasmuch as I know that thou hast 
been of many years a judge unto this nation, I 
do the more cheerfully answer for myself: be- 
cause that thou mayest understand, that there 
are yet but twelve days since I went up to Je- 
rusalem for to worship. And they neither 
found me in the temple disputing with any man, 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 135 

neither raising up the people, neither in the 
synagogues, nor in the city : neither can they 
prove the things whereof they now accuse me. 
But this I confess unto thee, that after the way 
which they call heresy, so worship I the God 
of my fathers, believing all things which are 
written in the law and in the prophets: and 
have hope toward God, which they themselves 
also allow, that there shall be a resurrection 
of the dead, both of the just and unjust. And 
herein do I exercise myself, to have always a 
conscience void of offence toward God, and 
toward men. Now, after many years, I came 
to bring alms to my nation, and offerings. 
Whereupon certain Jews from Asia found me 
purified in the temple, neither with multitude, 
nor with tumult : who ought to have been here 
before thee, and object, if they had aught 
against me. Or else let these same here say, 
if they have found any evil-doing in me, while 
I stood before the council, except it be for 
this one voice, that I cried, standing among 
them — touching the resurrection of the dead 
I am called in question by you this day." The 
boldness, and the dignity, and the honesty of 
Paul, seem to have confounded his accusers, 



138 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

and excited the admiration of Felix. Tertul- 
lus and the Jews did not pretend to say any- 
thing further, and Felix postponed the trial 
till he should see Lysias. Paul appears to 
have been treated kindly. He was put under 
the care of a centurion, as a kind of prisoner 
at large, and his friends were allowed to visit 
him, and to supply his wants. 

Felix appears to have been somewhat inte- 
rested in Paul ; and as the Apostle was at the 
time the great and distinguished champion of 
the Christian faith, the Governor and his wife 
Drusilla, who was a Jewess, sent for him to 
tell them something about Christianity. It 
will be necessary to remark, that Felix had 
enticed Drusilla from her husband Azizus, 
king of Emessa; and she had married him 
while her former husband was living. What 
the motive of these two was, in hearing Paul, 
it is impossible to say. Most probably it was 
mere curiosity. This feeling, however, Paul 
did by no means feel at liberty to gratify. He 
aimed, not to amuse them, but to fix the 
arrows of conviction in their consciences. He 
seems to have discussed the doctrinal part of 
the subject fully, and then to take hold of the 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 137 

practical application of the doctrines of the 
Christian faith. Regardless of the event as 
to himself, he addressed them with peculiar 
solemnity, on the topics which seemed most 
likely to awaken in them a sense of guilt, and 
to alarm their fears. He "reasoned of righ- 
teousness," before the man who had practised 
extreme injustice and oppression ; of " tempe- 
rance," before those who were living in a state 
of licentiousness ; " and of judgment to come," 
that they might be alarmed for the conse- 
quences of their wickedness. Some may be as- 
tonished at the boldness of the Apostle, who, 
instead of desiring to excuse himself, and gain 
the favour of his dignified hearers, endeavours 
to bring them to repentance. But this is a 
spirit, which ought to characterize every minis- 
ter of the Gospel. Without any fear of con- 
sequences to themselves, they should declare 
to the most distinguished of their people, the 
guilt and danger of their situation if impeni- 
tent ; and, instead of using flattering speeches, 
warn them " to flee- from the wrath to come." 
It often occurs in the providence of God, that 
fidelity such as this is amply rewarded, and 
the careless and abandoned sinner forced to 
m2 



138 LIFE OF ST. PAUL 

feel the power of the truth in awakening the 
conscience. It was so in the present instance. 
The haughty judge trembled under the exhi- 
bition of Divine truth made by the prisoner 
before him. His heart was evidently wounded 
by the arrow of conviction, and he could not 
conceal the horror of his feelings : he " trem- 
bled" at the anticipation of the judgment to 
come. But he loved his sins, and this love 
was stronger than his convictions, so that he 
hastened to bring the painful interview with 
Paul to a conclusion; but still, like a person 
irresolute even in sin, he did not seem to wish 
to abandon all idea of religion. He did what 
ten thousand are daily doing — sought to make 
his conscience easy, by pleading his numerous 
engagements at that time, and promising a 
serious attention to the things of eternity at 
" a more convenient season." 

This convenient season never came. In- 
stead of this, Felix appears to have been har- 
dened in his sins, a very usual result of reli- 
gious convictions stifled before they lead to 
conversion. We know that this was the case 
with Felix, because his conduct towards Paul 
was more iniquitous than ever. He knew 



LIFE OP ST. PAUL. 139 

that Paul was innocent, and yet he did not re- 
lease him. He had frequent conversations 
with him, but the sacred historian tells us, 
that his object was that Paul should bribe him 
with money, in order to obtain his liberty. 
The Lord Jesus had furnished his Apostle 
with arguments which could make the sinner 
tremble, but he had not furnished him with 
money to buy his favour, and so Felix kept 
Paul a prisoner for no less than tw r o years ; and 
when he was removed, to make room for Por- 
cius Festus, who w T as appointed in his place, 
he continued Paul in prison, just to please 
the Jews. 

Let the reader be willing to pause one mo- 
ment, to ask himself the question, whether he 
has never stifled the convictions which may 
have been produced in his mind, by the faith- 
ful declaration of the word of God? Like 
Felix, perhaps, you may be inclined to dismiss 
the preacher, and turn away from those offen- 
sive subjects, by which your consciences are 
alarmed. Are you resolved then, to cast off 
all thoughts of God and eternal things ? No, 
you hope that at some future opportunity you 
shall be more at liberty to attend to your 



140 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

spiritual concerns. What means this putting 
off? Is not your short life hastening to a 
close? Is not judgment approaching? May 
you not soon be called before the tribunal of 
heaven ? Or, may you not, by your unwilling- 
ness to submit, provoke God to leave you to 
your own devices, and say, in righteous indig- 
nation, " let him alone ?" To what other 
season are you looking forward, or what can be 
so convenient as the present? " Now is the 
accepted time, and now is the day of salvation." 



CHAPTER XVII. 

The celebrated speech of Paul, before Festus 
and Agrippa. 

About the year 60, Porcius Festus suc- 
ceeded Felix in the government of Judea, and 
when he came to Cesarea found Paul there a 
prisoner. After he had remained three days, 
he set off for Jerusalem. When he first 
reached that city, some of the principal Jews 
solicited him to condemn Paul, or at least to 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 141 

order him from Cesarea to Jerusalem. Their 
hope was to get some opportunity of murder- 
ing him by the way. This design was again 
frustrated by God, for Festus would not con- 
sent to it, but told his accusers that they must 
go down to Cesarea. After remaining in Je- 
rusalem a little over ten days, Felix returned 
to Cesarea ; and the next day commanded Paul 
to be brought into the court. The Jews from 
Jerusalem appeared as his accusers, but they 
could prove nothing against him. Festus 
however, desirous of pleasing the Jews, asked 
Paul if he was willing to go to Jerusalem to 
be tried. This showed that Festus disregarded 
all justice, and was willing to deliver Paul to 
the malice of his foes. It was on this occa- 
sion that the Apostle made the following brief, 
vet most judicious answer : " I stand at Cesar's 
judgment-seat," that is, I stand for trial before 
a Roman tribunal, " where I ought to be judged. 
To the Jews I have done no wrong, as thou 
very well knowest. For if I be an offender, 
or have committed any thing worthy of death, 
I refuse not to die ; but if there is no truth in 
any of these things whereof these accuse me, 
no man has a right to deliver me to them. I 



142 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

appeal to Cesar." This was the last resort 
of a Roman citizen. It was his privilege to 
be tried before the emperor himself, and such 
an appeal stopped all proceedings in any of the 
lower courts. The appeal of Paul to the em- 
peror was not the effect of cowardice — his 
whole history shows that he was above fear. 
It was because he knew that he could get no 
justice done him in any of the inferior tribu- 
nals. It is the duty of a Christian to assert 
his civil rights, and always to demand the pro- 
tection which the laws of his country allow 
him. In his perilous situation, Paul took 
the only course which his duty or safety could 
dictate ; and it was therefore determined that 
he should go to Rome to be tried. Thus the 
desire of the Apostle to visit that city was 
brought about, though in a very different way 
probably from what he expected. 

Not long after these occurrences, Festus 
received a visit from Agrippa and his sister 
Bernice. The purpose of this visit appears 
to have been to congratulate Festus on hi r 
being made governor of Judea, At thi? time, 
Agrippa had the provinces of Gaulonitis, 
Trachonites, Batanea, Paneas, and Abilene 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 143 

under his government, with the title of King. 
He had afterwards Julias, in Perea, and a 
part of Galilee, on the west of the sea of Ti- 
berias. These were added to his government 
by the emperor Nero. During the visit which 
Agrippa and his sister made to Festus, in the 
course of conversation the subject of Paul's 
imprisonment was mentioned. Festus gave 
the following account of the matter, in which 
he, no doubt, pretends to a careless ignorance 
of the doctrines held by the Apostle. He 
thus states the case to Agrippa : — " There is 
a certain man left in bonds by Felix : about 
whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief 
priests and the elders of the Jews informed 
me, desiring to have judgment against him. 
To whom I answered, It is not the manner of 
the Romans to deliver any man to die, before 
that he which is accused have the accusers 
face to face, and have license to answer for 
himself concerning the crime laid against him. 
Therefore, when they were come hither, with- 
out any delay, on the morrow I sat on the 
judgment-seat, and commanded the ma;i to be 
brought forth; against whom, when the ac- 
cusers stood up, they brought none accusation 



144 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

of such things as I supposed : but had certain 
questions against him of their own supersti- 
tion, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom 
Paul affirmed to be alive. And because I 
doubted of such manner of questions, I asked 
him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and 
there be judged of these matters. But when 
Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the 
hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be 
kept till I might send him to Cesar." This 
excited the curiosity of Agrippa, and he said 
that he would like to hear Paul. In order to 
gratify his company, Festus the next day as- 
sembled his court, and with great pomp they 
came together to hear the Apostle make an 
address. Festus knew that he had no right to 
try Paul, as he had appealed to the emperor ; 
and that he was not compelled to answer. To 
excuse himself, however, he stated to the as- 
sembly, that he wanted to hear what Paul had 
to say for himself; so that when he sent him to 
the emperor, he might have something to 
write about; for, says he, " it seemeth to me 
unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal 
to signify the crimes laid against him." And 
so it was ; there was neither reason nor justice 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 145 

ia keeping Paul a prisoner. The only reason- 
able, and the only just course, was to have re- 
leased him, as he confesses that he did not 
know what crimes were laid to his charge. 
But God had purposes of infinite importance 
to answer ; and so these wicked men were left 
to act their own pleasure against the Apostle. 
In the mean time, let it be remembered, that 
on this occasion Paul was not tried. He was 
brought before this assembly merely to give an 
account of himself, and this he did not only 
voluntarily, but cheerfully. Conscious inno- 
cence always makes a man willing to speak 
boldly. The address of Paul is one of the 
most dignified, eloquent, and fearless orations 
ever delivered. He was glad to get an op- 
portunity of speaking before Agrippa, because 
he, being a Jew, could readily understand all 
those nice peculiarities of his case which 
were not familiar to the Romans. The speech 
of Paul was as follows : — " I think myself hap- 
py, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for 
myself this day before thee, touching all the 
things whereof I am accused of the Jews : espe- 
cially, because I know thee to be expert in all 
customs and questions which are among the 
N 



146 LTFE OF ST. PAUL. 

Jews : wherefore I beseech thee to hear me 
patiently. My manner of life from my youth, 
which was at the first among mine own nation 
at Jerusalem, know all the Jews ; which knew 
me from the beginning, (if they would testify,) 
that after the most straitest sect of our re- 
ligion, I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand, 
and am judged for the hope of the promise 
made of God unto our fathers : unto which 
promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving 
God day and night, hope to come. For which 
hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of 
the Jews. Why should it be thought a thing 
incredible with you, that God should raise the 
dead? I verily thought with myself, that I 
ought to do many things contrary to the name 
of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also 
did in Jerusalem : and many of the saints did 
I shut up in prison, having received authority 
from the chief priests; and when they were 
put to death, I gave my voice against them. 
And I punished them oft in every synagogue, 
and compelled them to blaspheme ; and being 
exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted 
them even unto strange cities. Whereupon, 
as I went to Damascus, with authority and 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 147 

commission from the chief priests: at mid- 
day, O king, I saw in the way a light from 
heaven, above the brightness of the sun, 
shining round about me, and them which 
journeyed with me. And when we were all 
fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking 
unto me, and saying, in the Hebrew tongue, 
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is 
hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And 
I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I 
am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, 
and stand upon thy feet : for I have appeared 
unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a 
minister and a witness both of these things 
which thou hast seen, and of those things in 
the which I will appear unto thee; delivering 
thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, 
unto whom now I send thee ; to open their 
eves, and to turn them from darkness to light, 
and from the power of Satan unto God ; that 
they may receive forgiveness of sins, and in- 
heritance among them which are sanctified, by 
faith that is in me. Whereupon, O king 
Agrippa I w r as not disobedient unto the hea- 
venly vision : but shewed first unto them of 
Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout 



148 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gen- 
tiles, that they should repent and turn to God, 
and do works meet for repentance. For these 
causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and 
went about to kill me. Having-, therefore, 
obtained help of God, I continue unto this 
day, witnessing both to small and great, say- 
ing none other things than those which the 
prophets and Moses did say should come : that 
Christ should suffer, and that he should be the 
first that should rise from the dead, and should 
shew light unto the people, and to the Gen- 
tiles." Festus appears, in this place, rather 
rudely to have interrupted Paul. He proba- 
bly considered the speech of the Apostle as 
absurd and enthusiastic ; and though he was 
willing to allow him the credit of being a 
learned man, he supposed him deranged. He 
exclaimed, " Paul thou art beside thyself, 
much learning doth make thee mad." 

The same objection has been repeatedly 
urged against all those who zealously contend 
for the grand and distinguishing doctrines of 
the Christian system. Careless persons ; who 
take no pains to examine the subject, treat 
these sublime and heavenly truths as perfectly 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 149 

unintelligible. In vindication of themselves, for 
their rejection of the Gospel, they endeavour to 
cast an odium upon its advocates; and repre- 
sent them, however sincere they may be, as men 
who are of weak minds, and easily led away. 
Paul replied to the charge of Festus, with 
great energy, and yet with the most becoming 
respect, — " I am not mad, most noble Festus, 
but speak forth the words of truth and sober- 
ness ;" and, to prove that he was speaking 
nothing but the sober truth, he turned round 
to king Agrippa, and appealed to him, if he 
did not know these things to be true. " I am 
persuaded," says Paul, " that none of these 
things are hidden from him; for this thing was 
not done in a corner :" that is, the miracles of 
Christ, and all the facts of his life, were per- 
fectly notorious at the time, as the scene of 
the transactions had not been some obscure 
place, but the whole land of Judea ; and as 
the facts of the history of Christ, strictly 
agreed with the predictions of the prophets, 
the Apostle felt himself authorised to argue 
as he had done. It seems that the Apostle 
must have perceived that some impression was 
ade upon the mind of Agrippa ; for, as soon 
n2 



150 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

as he had declared that the -facts of the history 
of Christ were matters of public notoriety, he 
asks the interesting question, " King Agrippa, 
belie vest thou the prophets?" And then, 
without waiting for his answer, he goes on, "J 
know that thou believest." The truth found 
its way to the heart of Agrippa ; and, in the 
first impulse of his feelings, he replied, " Al- 
most thou persuadest me to be a Chkistian." 
Unhappy man, that he did not yield an entire 
submission to the truth of the Gospel ! The 
fear of the world, most probably, prevented his 
conversion. With a persuasion that what 
Paul had preached was true, his heart shrunk 
from the sacrifices which it would require to 
be a Christian, and he went back into his 
former state of enmity. The acknowledgment 
made by Agrippa, though favourable, was by 
no means satisfactory to the anxious mind of 
Paul : he knew that such partial convictions 
could never secure the salvation of the soul. 
Forgetting his own case, and anxious only for 
the glory of God, and the salvation of souls, 
with the most tender affection he replies, — 
" I would to God that not only thou, but also 
all that hear me this day, were both almost, 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 151 

and altogether such as I am, except these 
bonds. " This devout aspiration clearly mani- 
fested his unbounded benevolence, his full 
confidence in the goodness of the Lord, and 
the blessedness which he experienced in the 
midst of his sufferings. He was not ashamed 
of being the prisoner of the Lord ; he envied 
not the king and governor their pomp and 
power, and he couli not express his good 
wishes for them in other terms than desiring- 
that, like him, they might belong to Jesus 
Christ. How great and noble does the Chris- 
tian here appear ! The little distinctions of 
crowns and chains, robes of state, and prison 
garments sink into nothing, in view of eter- 
nity and the great concerns of the immortal 
soul. 

The last remark of Paul closed the as- 
sembly. The King, and Bernice, and Festus 
rose up with the counsellors ; and when they 
had conferred among themselves, they were 
fully persuaded chat he was innocent ; and 
they agreed that they would have dismissed 
him, if he had not referred the cause to the 
Roman emperor. 

And now, upon a serious review of the his- 



152 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

tory thus far, we would inquire of our readers, 
not what is your opinion of Paul, but what 
think you of your own character, and hat 
think you of the Saviour whom Paul so zea- 
lously and fearlessly preached ? Have you 
seriously attended to the doctrines which he 
maintained? Have they made any impression 
upon your minds ? Perhaps, like Festus, you 
may be disposed to treat them with contempt ; 
or probably, like Agrippa, you are disposed to 
resist or trifle with their impressions. You 
are " almost persuaded," and here you rest. 
Ought this to satisfy your consciences, or can 
you seriously expect in such a case to inherit 
the promises of God ? O, why will you not 
consent to advance a little further, and be 
" altogether" what your own conscience tells 
you you ought to be ? There are hundreds 
and thousands of men, who have sound under- 
standings and solid judgments, who can tell 
you of the blessedness which they have found 
in the service of Christ. They argue rightly, 
that it is not a vain illusion of the fancy, but 
a most delightful reality, by which they are 
supported and comforted in the most severe 
and pressing difficulties. With tender af- 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 153 

fection, and compassionate importunity, they 
press it upon you to make the trial, that you 
may partake of their felicity. Credit their tes- 
timony, ard do not reject your own mercies. 
Stop not at that awful point with all the re- 
sponsibility of a sense of duty on your soul, 
and heaven within your reach. May He, who 
alone can subdue the human heart to himself, 
lead you to embrace the Gospel. May the 
almighty influence of his grace enable you to 
break through all your difficulties, and make 
you not " almost," but " altogether" a Chris- 
tian. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Voyage of Paul to Rome, as a prisoner — 
Suffers shipwreck* 

It was the will of God, that Paul should 
bear his testimony as an apostle of Jesus Christ 
at Rome ; but how that object was to be ac- 
complished was unknown to the Apostle. 
Though this was distinctly the determination 
of God, it was, in the method of his providential 



154 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

dealing, brought about by means the most per- 
fectly natural. Paul's appeal to the Roman 
emperor, was the last link in the chain of 
second causes by which this was to be ac- 
complished. 

After the noble defence of himself and doc- 
trines which the Apostle made before Festus 
and others, it was determined, that in conse- 
quence of his appeal he must be sent to Rome. 
And as there were other prisoners whose cases 
required the decision of the emperor himself, 
they were all put under the charge of Julius, 
a centurion, who had command of a company 
belonging to that Roman cohort, which was 
dignified with the title of Augustan. There is 
here a striking coincidence, which is one of 
those incidental circumstances so fully proving 
the truth of the Scripture history. Josephus 
observes, in his account of the Jewish wars, 
that when Felix was procurator of Judea, the 
Roman garrison at Cesarea was principally 
composed of soldiers who were natives of Sy- 
ria ; but he also observes, that a small body of 
Roman soldiers was stationed there at the same 
time, and that this body was dignified with the 
title of Sehaste, which means Augustan, and 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 155 

the same word is used both by Luke, who 
wrote the Acts, and by Josephus. This title 
was known of course to Luke, who accom- 
panied Paul from Cesarea to Rome ; now that, 
in the time of the emperor Nero, the garrison 
of Cesarea, which consisted chiefly of Syrian 
soldiers, contained also a body of Roman sol- 
, diers, and that they were known by the title 
of Augustan, are circumstances so minute, that 
they prove the history to have been written 
only by one in the situation of St. Luke. 

In this voyage, the only friends which Paul 
appears to have had with him, were Luke, and 
a man of Macedonia named Aristarchus. We 
have very little account of this Aristarchus; he 
is mentioned by Paul in his epistle to the 
Colossians as his " fellow prisoner," and in his 
epistle to Philemon as his "fellow labourer;" 
but there are no further records concerning 
him. 

At Cesarea, the centurion took passage for 
himself and the guard, and the prisoners, in a 
ship of Adramyttium, which was not however 
going directly to Rome. There was probably 
no vessel in the port at that time bound to 
Rome, as there was very little commercial in- 



156 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

tercourse between the two places. The ves- 
sel touched at Sidon, a port of Phenicia, on 
the coast of the Mediterranean, a very short 
distance from Cesarea ; and there the centurion 
treated Paul with great respect and kindness. 
He was permitted to visit his friends, and only 
required to hold himself in readiness to sail 
when the vessel was prepared. The course 
from Sidon to Myra, in Lycia, is very direct, 
as will be seen by inspecting the maps ; but, 
in consequence of contrary winds, they were 
compelled to sail round the north-east side of 
the island of Cyprus. This, of course, re- 
quired them to coast along the seas of Cilicia 
and Pamphylia. At. Myra, the centurion 
found a vessel of Alexandria, bound to Italy. 
These vessels were employed a great deal in 
carrying wheat from Alexandria to Rome. In 
this ship, therefore, the centurion took pas- 
sage ; and as she was heavily laden, and had 
the wind ahead, they made little progress for 
many days. When they had coasted along as 
far as opposite to Cnidus, which was a promon- 
tory of Asia, at one corner of the peninsula 
of Caria, the wind was too much ahead to 
suffer them to cross directly over the mouth 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 157 

of the Egean sea, or Archipelago, so that 
they sailed directly over towards the island of 
Crete, and doubling the south-eastern cape, 
called then Salmone, and now Cape Solomon, 
came to anchor in a port called the Fair Ha- 
vens, near which there was a city of Crete, 
named Lasea. In this port they spent con- 
siderable time, probably on account of head 
winds ; and staid so long, that Paul advised 
them to remain, as it was that season of the 
year when sailing had become dangerous. 
The time of the year we learn, from the cir- 
cumstance that Luke tells us, " the fast was 
already over.'" Now, the fast is generally 
allowed to mean that fast of the great day of 
atonement ; which was always celebrated on 
the 10th Jay of the Jewish 7th month, and 
which answers to the latter part of our Sep- 
tember. As this was about the time of the 
autumnal equinox, it was particularly danger- 
ous to sail in the Mediterranean sea, so much 
so, that its danger was proverbial. In conse- 
quence of this. Paul advised them to remain 
where they were, and spend the winter ; for he 
was sure the voyage would result in some 
disaster, if they persisted in sailing in a heavily 
O 



158 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

loaded vessel at that season. The centurion, 
however, submitted to the opinion of the pilot, 
and the owner of the ship ; and as the port of 
the Fair Havens was not commodious, they de- 
termined, at any rate, to try and reach the port 
of Phenice, on the same island; but which 
lay more to the south-west, and was, probably, 
a better port. At this time, a light south 
wind came on, which seemed so favourable, 
that they set sail, keeping close along the 
southern shore of Crete. It was not long, how- 
ever, before the words of Paul became true. 
They had sailed only a little while, when the 
wind changed and blew a tempest. This 
wind, the historian calls Euroclydon, and is 
generally supposed to have been that tempes- 
tuous and uncertain wind which blows in all 
directions, and is called a Levanter. This 
wind appears to have varied, however, but 
little from the east point ; for, as the ship could 
not " bear up into the wind," that is, luff up 
against it, they were compelled to let her 
"drive," that is, go before the wind. In 
doing this, they had hard work to weather the 
island of Clauda; and it was, therefore, im- 
possible for them to reach the port of Phe- 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 159 

nice. While in this situation, they were in 
danger of striking on the shoals between 
Clauda and Crete ; but they struck sail, and 
were driven under what seamen now call 
bare polls, so furious was the tempest. The 
next day, the sea being very heavy, and the 
vessel in danger of being buried under them, 
they lightened the ship by throwing some of 
the heaviest part of the cargo overboard; and 
the third day, the disciples joined in the la- 
bour of lightening the vessel, casting over- 
board, with their own hands, the heavy tack- 
ling ; and then, when several days passed, and 
neither sun or moon, or stars, to be seen, 
and they, all the while, driving before the 
storm, they gave up all hope of being saved, 
as they were sure they must be approaching 
some land. " But after long abstinence, Paul 
stood forth in the midst of them, and said, 
Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and 
not have loosed from Crete, and to have gain- 
ed this harm and loss. And now I exhort you 
to be of good cheer : for there shall be no loss 
of any man's life among you, but of the ship. 
For there stood by me, this night, the angel of 
God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, 



160 LIFE OF ST, PAUL. 

Fear not, Paul ; thou must be brought before 
Cesar : and lo, God hath given thee all them 
that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of 
good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be 
even as it was told me. Howbeit, we must 
be cast upon a certain island." 

After they had been driven in this way for 
two weeks, up and down in that part of the 
Mediterranean sea called Adria, on the four- 
teenth night, about midnight, the seamen sup- 
posed themselves to be near land, and they 
sounded, that is tried the depth of the water, 
with a heavy lead used for that purpose, and 
found it 20 fathoms; then immediately 15; so 
that they feared they would be cast on shore 
or rocks. Under these circumstances, they 
let go four anchors out of the stern of the ship, 
or, as it has been ingeniously explained, the 
anchor with four flooks, and anxiously wished 
for the day. The sailors thought their only 
way was to take to the boat; but as there were 
on board the vessel many times more than the 
boat could hold, they tried to deceive the pas- 
sengers, and thus escape themselves. Under 
the plea of casting anchor ahead of the ship, 
they lowered the boat, and were going to get 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 1C1 

into it; but Paul was aware of their design, 
and said to the centurion, " except these" men, 
that is the sailors, "abide in the ship, ye 
cannot be saved ;" that is, there is no way of 
preventing a complete wreck; because there 
are none but sailors who understand the 
management of a vessel in such a situation. 
The soldiers took a very short way of prevent- 
ing this conduct of the sailors ; they cut the 
ropes which fastened the boat to the side, and 
let her go, so that there was now no means of 
their deserting the vessel. At day-light, Paul 
exhorted them to be confident — to eat some- 
thing, as they had fasted so long. He did this 
himself, giving thanks to God, and his cheerful- 
ness and calmness seems to have inspired them 
all with fresh courage : he assured them from 
God, that none should be lost, though there 
was no less than 276 persons on board. When 
they had eaten, they fell to work and lighten- 
ed the ship, by throwing the wheat into the 
sea; and when it was broad day-light, they 
discovered the land, and seeing something 
like a creek, they thought they might run the 
ship on shore safely. Under this impression 
they took in their anchors, and loosened the 
o 2 



162 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

rudder bands,* and hoisted a sail,*)" and made 
towards the shore. The vessel appears to have 
been caught in an eddy, and grounded on some 
sand-bank near the shore, where the bows 
stuck fast, while the stern was in deeper water ; 
so that, by the force of the waves, she was 
broken into pieces. 

Under these circumstances, which would 
seem naturally to have softened the heart, the 
soldiers appear to have been actuated by the 
most cruel feelings. They supposed, that as 
the vessel was now a wreck, some of the pri- 
soners might make their escape by swimming, 
and suggested the idea of putting them to death. 
Nothing seems to have saved the lives of the 
prisoners on this occasion, but the attachment 
of the centurion to Paul ; he wished to save 
him, and for his sake spared the rest, which is 

* Large vessels in ancient times had two or more rudders, 
one at the stern, another at the side, and sometimes one at 
the bows. The bands were fastenings by which the rudders 
were hoisted out of the water during a storm, and lashed, as 
they could not all be used. In fair weather they let them 
down again. They appear to have done this on the present 
occasion, that they might have every opportunity of steering. 

t The text says main sail, but the Greek, word more pro- 
perly means what we call the jib, or triangular sail from 
the bowsprit to the foremast. 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 163 

another instance of the truth of what God had 
said, that he would give to Paul the lives of 
those who were with him. The centurion 
gave orders, that all who could swim should 
throw themselves into the sea ; and that those 
who could not swim, should get what they 
could to help them. Thus, some on boards, 
and others on broken parts of the ship, all 
succeeded in getting safe to land ; not one life 
was lost ; an instance of the special interference 
of God, for the fulfilment of his promises : for 
nothing less than a miraculous agency could 
have saved the lives of two hundred and 
seventy-six persons under the circumstances 
of such a shipwreck. 

It is impossible but that every serious read- 
er of the Scriptures should perceive in this rela- 
tion the hand of God, overruling these various 
circumstances for the protection of his faith- 
ful servant, and with a view to the propagation 
of the Gospel. Among other purposes for 
which this history is written in the Scriptures, 
it would seem, as if it is meant to encourage 
the persuasion, that all events shall be made 
subservient to the deliverance of God's people ; 
although he may, as the trial of their faith and 



164 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

patience, cause them to pass through much 
anxiety and tribulation. Let him who has a 
good hope through grace, that he is reconciled 
to God through Jesus Christ, be encouraged 
in the expectation of a happy issue to all 
his trials. Many and formidable dangers 
may seem to obstruct his path, but he shall 
surely reach the inheritance which is pro- 
mised. He may escape with difficulty, like 
the shipwrecked company with Paul, " some 
on boards and some on broken pieces of the 
ship," yet like them, trust in the Lord, and 
he will be brought out safely at last. It will 
be his happiness to experience the comfort 
beautifully expressed in the following lines : — 

" Let cares like a wild deluge come, 
Let storms of sorrow fall, 
May I but safely reach my home, 
My God, my Heaven, my all : — 

" There shall I bathe my weary soul 
In seas of heavenly rest, 
And not a wave of trouble roll 
Across my peaceful breast." 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 165 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Paul on the Island of Melita, and his voyage 
to Rome. 

Our last chapter contained an account of 
the dreadful shipwreck of Paul and his com- 
panions. By the merciful providence of God, 
the whole company reached the land in safety ; 
and they at once ascertained that the island 
on which they were wrecked was called Me- 
lita. It is not a matter of any great conse- 
quence, but still may be interesting- to our 
readers to ascertain where this island was, 
and by what name it is at present called. On 
this subject, there is some difference of opi- 
nion among the learned ; for there are two is- 
lands which originally bore this name. One of 
them is in what is called the Gulf of Venice ; 
and may be found on the map, situated near 
the coast of Illyricum, and nearly opposite to 
Epidaurus : its name on the map is Meleta. 
It would be useful for our readers to take the 
map, and, setting out from the Island of 



166 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

Crete, see whether it is very probable that the 
vessel was driven so far northward as the Gulf 
of Venice ; we think not. The other island 
of this name is in the Mediterranean sea, be- 
tween the Island of Sicily and the coast of 
Africa, and is now called Malta. This island 
is about twenty miles long, twelve miles 
in its greatest breadth, and about sixty miles 
in circumference. Tradition universally con- 
siders this place as the island on which Paul 
was wrecked ; and any one who will inspect 
the maps, will find no difficulty in believing 
this opinion to be by far the most probable. 

At the time of the shipwreck, which oc- 
curred about 1770 years ago, the island was 
inhabited, most probably, by the descendants 
of the Phenicians, who were the great disco- 
verers and adventurers of those times. The 
history calls them " barbarous people ;" but 
we are not to understand by this term, exactly 
the same as we now mean when we use the 
word barbarian. With the Greeks and Ro- 
mans, and others, it was customary to call 
those persons barbarians whose language they 
did not understand. Herodotus tells us, that 
the Egyptians did »o ; and Ovid, a Roman au« 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 167 

thor of very great celebrity, when among the 
Getes, says, " Here I am a barbarian, for no 
one understands me." We have the same 
method of speaking used by Paul himself, in 
the 14th chapter of his Epistle to the Corin- 
thians, where he says, " If I know not the 
meaning of the voice ;" that is, if I do not un- 
derstand the language, " I shall be unto him 
that speaketh, a barbarian ; and he that 
speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me." By 
" barbarous people," then, we are not to un- 
derstand that they were cruel or savage, be- 
yond any other heathen people, but that they 
were a people whose language was not under- 
stood by the more civilized nations. That 
they were not barbarians, in the ordinary 
sense of the word is perfectly obvious ; for the 
historian goes on to say, that after the ship- 
wreck, when they were wet and weary, and 
almost lifeless, these very people " showed us 
no little kindness." Instead of using them 
cruelly, as it was rainy and cold, they made a 
fire on the beach, and tried to accommodate 
the whole company as well as they possibly 
could. Paul himself was not idle: he ga- 
thered a bundle of sticks to lay on the fire. 



168 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

Among these sticks a viper had previously 
crawled, probably benumbed ; as all kinds of 
snakes are very easily benumbed by cold. 
When the fire began to burn, however, the 
viper was roused ; and, as Paul had his hands 
close to the fire, probably handling the wood, 
the viper fastened itself upon him. This the 
superstitious people thought was an indication 
of his wickedness ; and they at once said 
among themselves, — " No doubt this man is 
a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped 
the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live." 
Knowing that he was a prisoner, they con- 
cluded that he must be one of the vilest kind, 
on whom God, in his justice, would inflict 
that punishment which he was likely not to 
receive from the hands of men. God does, 
indeed, often visit the guilty sinner with sud- 
den vengeance, as in the case of Ananias 
and Sapphira, and as we often see now in 
sabbath-breakers and profane swearers : and 
men should tremble at the thought, that God 
may cut them off in their sin, and bring them 
to judgment. It is certain that these people, 
although they were heathen, and called bar- 
barous, believed that God exercises a rule 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 169 

over the affairs of men; that he sees and 
knows all that is done, and that he will pun- 
ish the guilty, although they may escape the 
hands of man. They soon found themselves 
mistaken in their judgment of Paul. The 
viper did not, probably, bite him ; or, if it 
did, God prevented the poison from hurting 
him: and Paul, just as if nothing had hap- 
pened, shook off the viper into the fire, with- 
out any harm. The people looked at him a 
little while ; for they supposed that he would 
have swollen, or dropped down dead : but 
when they saw that nothing happened, they 
changed to the very opposite extreme, and 
then foolishly supposed that he was a god. 

On that part of the island was the resi- 
dence of the chief man, most probably the 
governor : and, by using this title, Luke 
shows his remarkable accuracy ; for the go- 
vernor, instead of being called by the usual 
title, was called, " Chief of the Melitese." 
There was an ancient inscription found at 
Malta, the literal translation of which is as 
follows,—" Lucius Caius, son of Quirinus, a 
Roman knight, Chief of the Mclitese." This 
P 



170 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

is one among those incidental notices proving 
the truth and accuracy of the history. 

Publius, who at this time was what we 
would call governor of Malta, took the whole 
party of Christians to his own house, lodged 
them three days, and paid them every atten- 
tion which their circumstances required. It 
so happened, that the father of Publius was 
very ill with a fever and dysentery ; and Paul, 
having prayed with him, laid his hands on 
him, and he was cured. This miracle was 
soon noised abroad through the island, and 
many others who had diseases, came and were 
healed. 

As Paul and his companions, in conse- 
quence of their disastrous shipwreck, had lost 
all their little property, and were entirely des- 
titute, the people of the island very gener- 
ously supplied them with all necessary things ; 
and, at the end of three months, when they 
were about to set sail again for Rome, by the 
first convenient opportunity which offered, 
they gave them every comfort which was re- 
quired for their voyage. 

A ship from Alexandria, carrying corn to 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 171 

Rome, had wintered at Malta ; by which we 
suppose is meant, had there spent the most 
tempestuous months, for as Paul was ship- 
wrecked most probably in October, the three 
months would be up at least by the beginning 
of February. This, though in the winter, 
was a very good time for sailing in those seas, 
because the wind was then generally steady, 
and the passage accounted safe. 

It was the custom of the ancient Greeks 
and Romans, to place the image or picture of 
the Deity to whose care and protection they 
committed the ship, at the stern, and to place 
the sign by the name of which the ship was 
called, at the head. The practice of modern 
days is somewhat similar, though we are hap- 
pily relieved from the terrors and superstitions 
of paganism. We, generally, put some image 
at the bows of our ships, merely as one 
method of distinguishing the vessel from 
others, and we paint the name on the stern. 
Various flags also are contrived, that a vessel 
may be told at a distance. The sign of the 
ship in which Paul sailed from Malta, was 
Castor and Pollux, two heathen deities that 
we care nothing about. 



172 LIFE OF ST. PAUL, 

Now let us start again and follow the course 
of the vessel. From Malta, the captain struck 
over to a port on the east side of the island 
of Sicily, called Syracuse, where he staid 
three days. This place was so famous, that 
we feel disposed to tell our readers a little 
about it. 

Syracuse is one of the most famous cities 
of antiquity. It is the capital of the island 
of Sicily ; and was built about 730 years be- 
fore the Christian Era. The city originally 
was about twenty-two miles in circumference, 
and was celebrated by the warlike spirit of its 
inhabitants. It is most remarkable as the 
birth-place of Archimedes, a man distinguish- 
ed for his great skill in the science of mathe- 
matics, who, when the city was besieged by 
the Romans under Marcellus, about 212 years 
before Christ, defended the place w T ith the 
powerful engines which he invented and put 
into use, against all the valour and power of 
the Romans. He beat their gallies to pieces 
with large stones thrown from his machines, 
and by hooks, chains, and levers from the 
walls, sunk and destroyed their ships. Some, 
he is said to have set on fire by powerful 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 173 

burning glasses. The city was at last taken 
by treachery ; and so intent was Archimedes 
upon his studies, that the first he knew of 
it was by a soldier with a dagger at his throat. 
— " Stop, soldier," said he, " or you will spoil 
my diagram." The brutal soldier, however, 
knew and cared little about diagrams, and so 
killed him on the spot. 

Syracuse was almost totally destroyed by an 
earthquake, in the year 1693. Its present 
population is 18,000, and Christianity, in 
some form or other, has existed there ever 
since Paul spent the three days mentioned in 
the history. 

From Syracuse, they coasted along the 
eastern side of Sicily, and went over to Rhe- 
gium, which was a city, or promontory of the 
same name, and the most southern boundary 
of Italy. From hence, they took advantage 
of a south wind, which was fair, and sailed to 
Puteoli, a sea port about sixty miles south 
and east of Rome. Here they found Chris- 
tian brethren ; and the centurion who had 
Paul in charge, probably determined to take 
the direct road to Rome, and go no farther by 
water. At Puteoli, among the brethren, they 
p2 



174 LIFE OF ST, PAUL. 

were permitted to stay seven days, and then 
they went towards Rome. 

Rome was one of the most celebrated 
cities in the universe, the capital of Italy, 
and once the capital of the whole world. 
It is situated on the river Tiber, a small 
river which flows into the Mediterranean 
sea. It was founded by Romulus, 753 
years before the Christian era. But a history 
of Rome cannot here be given. Our readers 
must seek for that in works expressly written 
for the object. 

As Paul was permitted to stay seven days in 
Puteoli, the Christians in Rome had time to 
hear of his arrival, and some of them came to 
meet him as far as a place called Appii Fo- 
rum, or the market place of Appius. This 
was a town on a road from Rome to Campania, 
called the Appian way. This road was re- 
markable in those days, because it was paved, 
and was a work of great labour, such as be- 
came the great empire in which it was built. 
Appii Forum was fifty-two miles from Rome. 
As Paulwent on, he found more brethren at a 
place called the Three Taverns, on the same 
road, about thirty^three miles from Rome. 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 175 

The visit of the brethren cheered the mind 
of Paul; and we are told that he " thanked 
God, and took courage." 

At length they came to Rome, and the cen- 
turion delivered up his prisoners to the cap- 
tain of the guard. What became of the other 
prisoners we are not told ; but as to Paul, he 
was very much favoured in being permitted to 
dwell by himself under the guard of a soldier. 
This mode of custody, however, was by no 
means pleasant; though it was better than 
being put into the common prison. As our 
readers may not understand why it was un- 
comfortable, we will explain it. Paul was 
bound to this soldier by a chain, and, of 
course, he could never be absent from the 
soldier. All his communications, therefore, 
either with the Jews, or his Christian bre- 
thren, had to be in the presence of this wit- 
ness. He alludes to it, in the conversation 
which he had with the Jews— " for the hope 
of Israel am I bound with this chain." Bless- 
ed be God, however, he was free to speak and 
to write ; . and the result of this freedom we 
shall notice in another chapter. 



176 LIFE OF ST. PAUL, 



CHAPTER XX. 

Paul, during his imprisomnent at Rome. 

Paul appears to have taken about three days 
to get rested from the fatigues of his journey, 
and to devote to his immediate friends; after 
which he sent for the Jews to meet him. 
When they came together, he told them the 
whole of the circumstances which caused his 
imprisonment, and induced him to appeal to 
the Emperor. To his utter amazement, he 
found that the Jews in Rome knew nothing 
about the matter; and they told him, that they 
had neither received any letters from Jerusa- 
lem on the subject, neither had any of their 
brethren from Judea said any evil about him. 
This shows that the Jews in Judea, though 
they persecuted him so violently there, felt 
their cause entirely frustrated by his appeal to 
the Emperor, and so let the matter drop. Paul 
in Rome, therefore, had no accusers, and though 
kept a prisoner, had no specific charge laid 
against him. In consequence of this state of 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 17 i 

things, the Jews told him, that all the object 
they had in coming to visit him, was, that they 
might hear his opinion on the subject of Chris- 
tianity ; for they confessed that they were en~ 
tirely ignorant on the subject, and that the 
whole amount of their knowledge was, that the 
Christians w T ere a sect, every where spoken 
against* 

Paul of course was very anxious to express 
his full and decided opinion on the subject of 
the Christian religion ; and on a certain day, 
which they themselves appointed, they came 
to hi3 lodging for this purpose. Here he set 
himself more earnestly to work to convince 
them of the truth of the religion of his master. 
We are told, that "he expounded and testified 
the kingdom of God j " that is, he showed the 
reign of the Messiah to mean a spiritual reign, 
and that Jesus, whom he preached, was the 
true Messiah. The arguments which he 
brought on these points he gathered entirely 
from the scriptures, from the law, and the pro- 
phets ; and so full are the testimonies connec- 
ted with all the types and ceremonies and in- 
stitutions of the law, and the numerous pre- 
dictions of the prophets, that he was from 



178 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

morning until evening engaged in this inte- 
resting and important discussion. 

This conversation was not without its pro- 
fitable effect : "some believed;" but as is usual 
in the faithful exhibition of truth, " some be- 
lieved not." There are always those who re- 
ject the counsel of God. The discussion of 
Paul seems to have had the effect of exciting 
a spirit of investigation among them, but they 
could come to no agreement ; so that before 
the Jews left him, he felt constrained to tell 
them, that their conduct verified the prophecy 
of Isaiah — "Go unto this people and say, 
hearing ye shall hear and not understand, and 
seeing ye shall see and not perceive ; for the 
heart of this people is waxed gross, and their 
ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have 
they closed, lest they should see with their 
eyes, and hear with their ears, and should be 
converted, and 1 should heal them." And then 
he concluded his address, by telling them, 
what he had told the Jews in other places 
twice before, viz. that the salvation of the 
gospel being rejected by them, would be offered 
to the Gentiles ; and that they would hear it, 
accept it, obey it, and be saved. 



LIFE OF ST. FAUL. 179 

This is the last recorded address of Paul to 
his dear brethren after the flesh ; that is, the 
Jews. It was an address which must have 
been accompanied with a blessing, for we are 
told that the Jews had great reasonings among 
themselves ; and wherever there is a spirit of 
inquiry, no matter what temporary inconveni- 
ences may be experienced by the circumstance 
of controversy, truth must and will finally pre- 
vail to the praise and glory of God. 

The history tells us, that Paul remained 
two whole years in his own hired house. How 
was he employed ? Let it be remembered, all 
the while, that he was a prisoner, though al- 
lowed to occupy his own apartments. How 
was he employed ? His time was continually 
occupied in two great departments of his 
master's business — writing and preaching. 
During his two years imprisonment, he wrote 
the following epistles, or letters, in the order 
in which they will be named. 

1. The Epistle to the Ephesians, to estab- 
lish them in the Christian faith, by describing 
in the most animating language, the mercy of 
God in the calling of the Gentiles, through 
faith in Jesus Christ ; and to enforce upon 



180 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

them that holiness and consistency of conduct 
which is required of all who receive a know- 
ledge of the gospel salvation. This epistle 
he sent by Tychicus, who carried it to Ephe- 
sus, for the purpose of giving the Christians 
there personal assurances of Paul's welfare and 
affection for them. 

2. Next he wrote an epistle to the Philip- 
pians, to comfort them under the concern they 
expressed on the subject of his imprisonment, 
and to exhort them to continue in union and 
mutual love. Also, to caution them against 
the seductions of false teachers, who had be- 
gun to introduce themselves among them. 

3. He next wrote an epistle to the Colos- 
sians, in answer to a message which they had 
sent by Epaphras. His object in this epistle 
was principally to prove, that the hope of man's 
salvation is founded exclusively on the atone- 
ment of our Lord Jesus Christ; also to set 
them right in relation to some Jewish and 
heathen opinions which were industriously 
propagated. This epistle also appears to have 
been sent by Tychicus. 

4. The next epistle which he wrote was to 
his friend Philemon, who lived in Colosse. 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 161 

This epistle was to intercede for a slave named 
Onesimus, who had run away from his master 
to Rome, where he was converted, and sent 
back by Paul. 

But besides this, Paul was engaged in 
preaching during the two years of his confine- 
ment. This we are distinctly told in the last 
verse of the Acts of the Apostles. As he had 
a hired house, he preached to all who would 
come to see him, and his great subject was 
Jesus Christ — " teaching those things which 
concern the Lord Jesiis Christ" These three 
words are very important. Paul preached 
Christ as Lord ; that is, the sole potentate ■, as 
upholding all things by the word of his power, 
governing the world and the Church ; having 
all things under his control ; in short, the 
maker and upholder of all things, and the 
Judge of all men. He preached him as Jems % 
that is, the Saviour ; he who saves, delivers, 
and preserves, and especially who saves his 
people from their sins. He also preached him 
as Christ, that is, the Messiah, or anointed one ; 
he who was apointed by God to this great and 
glorious work. Paul proved him to be the 
Messiah, foretold by the prophets, and ex- 
Q 



182 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

pected by the Jews. And more than this, 
when we are told that Paul spent his time in 
" teaching the things concerning the Lord 
Jesus Christ," it includes, besides the things, 
above mentioned, his incarnation, his preach- 
ing, his miracles, persecutions, death, burial, 
resurrection,ascension,intercession, <fyc. These 
were the subjects on which the Apostle preach- 
ed during his two years' imprisonment at Rome, 
which doubtless he preached to the end of his 
life, and which are preached in their fulness, 
by all true ministers of Jesus Christ. 

The history contained in the Acts of the 
Apostles here closes. Thus far, therefore, and 
no farther, are we led on the authority of the 
word of God. To carry the life of Paul down 
to the time of his death we have no materials 
on which we can positively depend. Still we 
can ascertain a good deal which we have every 
reason to believe to be true; and hoping that 
the reader will bear in mind, that all has now 
been said which the word of God contains, 
the next chapter will close the account with 
information derived from other sources. 



LIFT. OF ST. PAUL- 193 



CHAPTER XXL 

Travels of Paul, after his release from his 
first imprisonment in Rome — His subsequent 
imprisonment and death. 

After Paul was released from his confine- 
ment, as mentioned in the last chapter, he re- 
mained a short time in Italy, waiting for Timo- 
thy to come to him from Philippi, where it 
would appear he had been sent by Paul, just 
before his release, as you will see in his letter 
to the Philippians, chap. ii. 19 — 23. During 
the time in which he waited for Timothy, 
Paul is supposed to have written his epistle to 
the Hebrews, which is intended to prove to 
the Jews, from their own scriptures, the Divi- 
nity, humanity, atonement, and intercession 
of Christ — the superiority of the Gospel to the 
law, and the real object and design of the 
Mosaic institutions. After the finishing of 
this epistle, it is generally supposed that Paul 
visited those places which, in several of his 
epistles, he had promised to visit. Thus, in 
his epistle to the Romans, he intimated his 



184 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

wish to go into Spain, and after having preach- 
ed the Gospel in various parts of Italy, he most 
probably fulfilled this promise, and at the 
same time visited France and Great Britain. 
A writer by the name of Clemens Roman us, 
the intimate friend and fellow labourer of Paul, 
tells us, that the Apostle preached the Gospel 
to the utmost bounds of the West, a method of 
speaking, which included Spain, Gaul, or 
France, and Great Britain. On his return 
from the west, accompanied by Timothy, he 
sailed to Judea, and went once more to Jeru- 
salem, and from there into Antioch of Syria. 
From Antioch it is probable that he visited 
Colosse, as he had promised Philemon he 
would do ;* and leaving Timothy at Ephesus, 
after he had excommunicated Hymeneus and 
Philetus, he departed for Macedonia, where he 
spent some time with his beloved Philippians, 
as he had expressed an intention so to do in 
his letter to them from Rome.f From Phi- 
lippi, he went to Corinth, where, we are told 
in his epistle to Timothy, that he left Erastus.J 
From Corinth he went to Troas, and in his 
epistle to Titus, refers to a cloak and some 

* Philemon 22. f Philip, i. 25 ; ii. 24. \ 2 Tim. i v. 20 



LIIL OF ^r. PAUL. 185 

parchments which he heed left at that place, 

and which lie requested Timothy to bring to 
him.* This little incident is a pleasing one, 
and must satisfy any one, that the epistle was 
actually written under the circumstances be- 
lieved by us in reference to these sacred 
records. No one who was forging such writings 
would think telling about a cloak and papers 
left on a journey. Thence he went to Miletus, 
where he was obliged to leave Trophimu^ 
dangerously ill. From Miletus he went once 
more to Rome. During the absence of Paul 
from Rome, there had been a most grievous 
persecution of the Christians under the most 
abominable and wicked of all tyrants, the 
emperor Nero. At the period of Paul's return, 
the persecution had a little subsided, as the 
emperor had gone to Greece. However, Nero 
had delegated absolute power to Helius Ccesa- 
nanus, and Paul had been but a little time in 
Rome before he was seized by order of this 
man, as wicked as his master, and put into 
close and rigorous confinement. This was 
very different from what he had before expe- 
rienced; then, he was permitted to live in his 

* 2 Tim. iv. 13, 

u 2 



136 LIFE or ST. PAUL. 

own hired house, and see what company he 
pleased ; but now the case was altered. He 
was bound as a malefactor, and not permitted 
to have any close intimacy with the brethren, 
who still survived the persecution. It is not 
easy to tell his distress during this imprison- 
ment ; he was cut off from the opportunity of 
doing good ; and so dispirited and broken down 
were the Christians, that he tells Timothy in 
a letter, that he had no man to stand by him. 
Onesiphorus however, from Ephesus, sought 
him out, and gave him comfort ; but other- 
wise, no earthly friends stood by him. But 
there was One who never forsook him, the 
Master whom he served; and his presence 
animated the soul of the Apostle in the pros- 
pect of a cruel death. In the anticipation of 
this death, he wrote to his beloved Timothy 
his second epistle, which no one can read 
without being struck with the calmness and 
holy joy which marked the termination of his 
earthly career. There is something most 
singularly sublime and affecting in the charge 
which he addresses to Timothy in the fourth 
chapter of this epistle; and its solemnity i? 
greatly increased, as he alludes to his prospecf 



LIFE OF ST. TAUL. 187 

of speedy dissolution. The charge to Timothy 
is one which needs no comment. — " I charge 
thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus 
Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead, 
at his appearing and his kingdom. Preach 
the word ; be instant in season, out of season ; 
reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering 
and doctrine. For the time will come, when 
they will not endure sound doctrine ; but after 
their own lusts shall they heap to themselves 
teachers, having itching ears ; and they shall 
turn away their ears from the truth, and shall 
be turned unto fatbles. But watch thou in all 
things, endure afflictions, do the work of an 
evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. 
For I am now ready to be offered, and the 
time of my departure is at hand. I have 
fought a good fight, I have finished my course, 
I have kept the faith : henceforth there is laid 
up for me a crown of righteousness, which the 
Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at 
that day : and not to me only, but unto all them 
also that love his appearing." 

The closing part of this address shows 
that Paul was triumphantly expecting the 
speedy termination of his earthly career ; and 



188 LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

in this he was not mistaken. We have no 
authentic account of the precise manner of 
his death ; but, according to primitive tra- 
dition, he was beheaded with a sword, on the 
29th day of June, in the year of our Lord 66, 
at a place called Aqua Salvia, three miles 
distant from Rome ; and that his body was de- 
posited in a grave two miles from Rome, on 
the road named Via Ostemis. When the 
Christian religion became the religion of the 
Roman empire, Constantine the Great erect- 
ed a church on the spot where the mortal re- 
mains of the Apostle were deposited. 

Though Paul died by the hands of the exe- 
cutioner, a martyr to the cause of Jesus 
Christ ; and though when he was buried, no 
splendid monument told the place where his 
body rested in hope of a glorious resurrec- 
tion — he has ever had erected to his memory 
a monument which shall last beyond all the 
ravages of time. That monument consists 
of the thousands, nay, the millions, who have 
been, and still will be, converted to the faith 
of Christianity, by the infinite grace of God, 
through the instrumentality of the preaching 
and the writings of this great Apostle. 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 139 

In the conversion, the life, the untiring 
zeal and perseverance, the splendid talents, 
the fidelity, the energy, the boldness, the en- 
tire devotedness of Paul, we mark the won- 
ders of Almighty Grace, in consecrating such 
rare intellectual and moral endowments, to 
the best, and holiest, and most important of 
all causes — the salvation of perishing sinners. 
And in his death, and its preceding circum- 
stances, we mark the sustaining energy of 
grace — which, in the triumphs of its power, 
enabled him calmly to take leave of a world 
for whose conversion he had laboured ; and 
with rapture to enter into the presence of a 
Saviour for whose cause he had not only lived 
but died. Next to his Divine Master, Paul 
will ever stand out, through the influence of 
sovereign grace, the greatest benefactor 

OF THE HUMAN FAMILY. 



190 LIFE OF ST, PAVL. 

ANALYSIS 

Of the History of the Acts of the Apostles* 

If we carefully examine the Acts of the 
Apostles, we shall perceive that Saint Luke 
had two objects in view: — 1. To relate in 
what manner the gifts of the Holy Spirit were 
communicated on the day of Pentecost, and 
the subsequent miracles performed by the 
Apostles, by which the truth of Christianity 
was confirmed. An authentic account of this 
matter was absolutely necessary, because 
Christ had so often assured his disciples, that 
they should receive the Holy Spirit. Un- 
believers, therefore, whether Jews or Hea- 
thens, might have made objections to our re- 
ligion, if it had not been shown that Christ's 
declaration was really fulfilled. — 2. To de- 
liver such accounts as proved the claim of 
the Gentiles to admission into the church of 
Christ,— a claim disputed by the Jews, espe- 
cially at the time when Saint Luke wrote the 
Acts of the Apostles. And it was this very 
circumstance which excited the hatred of the 
Jews against Saint Paul, and occasioned his 
imprisonment in Rome, with which Saint 
Luke closes his history. Hence we see the 
reason why he relates (ch. viii.) the conver- 
sion of the Samaritans, and (ch. x, xi.) the 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 191 

story of Cornelius, whom Saint Peter (to 
whose authority the adversaries of Saint Paul 
had appealed in favour of circumcision) bap- 
tised, though he was not of the circumcision. 
Hence also Saint Luke relates the determina- 
tion of the first council in Jerusalem relative 
to the Levitical law : and for the same reason 
he is more diffuse in his account of Saint 
Paul's conversion, and Saint Paul's preaching 
the Gospel to the Gentiles, than on any other 
subject. It is true, that the whole relation, 
which Saint Luke has given (ch. xii.) has no 
connexion with the conversion of the Gen- 
tiles : but during the period, to which that 
chapter relates, Saint Paul himself was present 
at Jerusalem, (see Acts xi. 30 ; xii. 25,) and it 
is probable, for that reason, that Saint Luke 
has introduced it. But there is, 3. A third 
opinion which Michael is thinks not devoid of 
probability, viz. that Saint Luke might design 
to record only those facts, which he had either 
seen himself or had heard from eye-witnesses. 
The Acts of the Apostles, Michaelis ob- 
serves, were evidently written with a tolerably 
strict attention to chronological order ; though 
Saint Luke has not affixed a date to any one 
of the facts recorded by him. There are, 
however, several parts of this book, in which 
ecclesiastical history is combined with politi- 
cal facts, the dates of which are known : and 
these Michaelis has endeavoured to determine, 
because the chronoloerv will not only con- 



1 92 LIFE OF £T. PAUL. 

tribute to illustrate the Acts of the Apostles, 
but also will assist us in fixing the year when 
many of Saint Paul's epistles were written. 
Taking for granted, therefore, that this book 
commences with the year 33 of the Christian 
aera, (in which calculation he follows Arch- 
bishop Usher,) he has given us the following 
series of dates. 

1. " The first epoch, after the commence- 
ment of the book, is at ch. xi. 29, 30; for 
what happened between the first Pentecost 
after Christ's ascension and this period is 
without any marks of chronology. But at ch. 
xi. 29, 30, we have a date: for the famine 
which took place in the time of Claudius Cae- 
sar, and which induced the disciples at An- 
tioch to send relief to their brethren in Judea, 
happened in the fourth year of Claudius's reign, 
that is, in the year 44 of the Christian aera. 

2. Second epoch. Herod Agrippa dies soon 
after he had put to death the apostle Saint 
James : and about that time Saint Paul and 
Saint Barnabas return from Jerusalem to 
Antioch. (ch. xii. 21 — 25.) This is still in the 
year 44. 

3. Third epoch, (ch. xviii. 2.) Shortly 
after the banishment of the Jews from Italy 
by Claudius Caesar, Saint Paul arrives at Co- 
rinth. Commentators affix the date of 54 to 
this event ; but it is uncertain, for Suetonius, 
the only historian who has noticed this banish- 
ment of the Jews, mentions it without date. 



LIFE Or ST. PAUL. 193 

4. Fourth epoch. Saint Paul comes to Je- 
rusalem, where he is imprisoned by the Jews, 
not long after the disturbances which w r ere 
excited by the Egyptian, (ch. xxi. 37 — 39.) 
This imprisonment of Saint Paul happened in 
the year 80, for it was two years before Felix 
quitted his government of Judea. (ch. xxiii. 
26; xxiv. 27.) 

5. Fifth epoch. Tw r o years after the com- 
mencement of Saint Paul's imprisonment, 
Festus is appointed governor of Judea, a. d. 
62. (ch. xxiv. 27; xxv. 1.) 

From this period the chronology of the 
Acts of the Apostles is clear. Saint Paul is 
sent prisoner to Rome in the autumn of the 
same year in which Festus arrived in Judea: 
he suffers shipwreck, passes the winter in 
Malta, and arrives in Rome in the following 
year, that is, in 63. (ch. xxvi, xxvii, xxviii.) 

The Acts of the Apostles close with the 
end of the second year of Saint Paul's im- 
prisonment in Rome : consequentlv, in the 
year 65. (ch. xxviii. 30.)" 

It is difficult to determine the date of the 
events that happened between the epochs 33 
and 34, and between 44 and 60, especially 
the time of Saint Paul's conversion and of the 
council at Jerusalem. Archbishop Usher 
places the first of these transactions, a. d. 
35, others in 38. But though we cannot at- 
tain to absolute certainty, a probable conjec- 
ture mav be formed. Thus, Michaelis remarks, 
R 



194 LirE or st. pail. 

Saint Stephen hardly suffered martyrdom be- 
fore Pilate was recalled from the government 
of Judea; because, under that procurator, the 
Jews had not the power of inflicting capital 
punishments. Now, according to Usher, the 
year in which Pilate was recalled, was the 
thirty-sixth of the Christian sera, Saint Ste- 
phen's martyrdom therefore probably hap- 
pened after 36. If this be true, Saint Paul's 
conversion must have happened likewise after 
36, and therefore 35 is too early a date. But 
how long after 36, or whether in 38, cannot 
be determined. 

In what manner the chapters iii, iv, v, vi, 
are to be arranged between 33 and 36, Mi- 
chaelis cannot determine : for what chronolo- 
gers have said is mere conjecture, and not 
calculation*. The same uncertainty prevails 
in respect to ch. viii and x: for we can 
affirm nothing more, than that the one must 
be placed before the other, after 36. We are 
likewise in the dark with respect to ch. xiii, 
xiv, and several other chapters. Of ch. xvi, 
we may assert, that it belongs to a period at 
least six years prior to the fourth epoch, or the 
year 60: for a year and an half at Corinth, 
three years at Ephesus, and the time spent on 
several journeys, can hardly be pressed iiftp a 
smaller compass than that of six years. -JrTo 
ch. xvi, therefore, the latest date which can 
be assigned is 54: and it is not improbable 
that it should be dated still earlier. 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. l9o 

The Acts of the Apostles, ab the} appear in 
our copies, may be divided into three prin- 
cipal parts, viz. 

Part I. contains the rise and progress of 
the mother church at Jerusalem from the time 
of our Saviour's ascension to the first Jewish 
persecution, (ch. i — viii.) 

Sect. 1. The transactions before and after 
Jesus Christ's ascension into heaven, (i.) 

Sect. 2. The descent of the Holy Spirit on 
the apostles at the feast of Pentecost, and 
Peter's discourse to the people in conse= 
quence of it. (ii.) 

Sect. 3. A lame man healed by Peter and 
John — Peter's discourse to the people- 
Events that befel the apostles in conse- 
quence of that miracle, (iii, iv.) 

Sect. 4. The death of Ananias and Sap- 
phira. — Miracles of the apostles, — who are 
scov.rg^d and dismissed, (v.) 

Sect. 5. The institution of deacons, — the 
discourse and martyrdom of Stephen, — and 
the first Jewish persecution, (vi, vii, viii. 
1-4.) 
Part II. comprises the dispersion of the 

disciples — the propagation of Christianity 

among the Samaritans — the conversion of 

Saint Paul, and the foundation of a Christian 

church at Antioch. (viii. 5 — 12.) 

Sect. 1. The planting of the church at Sama- 
ria, (viii. 15 — 25.) 



196 LIFF 01 ST. FAUL. 

Sect. 2. The conversion of the Ethiopian 

eunuch, (viii. 26 — 40.) 
Sect. 3. The conversion, baptism, and first 

preaching of Saint Paul, (ix.) 
Sect. 4. Account of two miracles performed 

by Peter, and the conversion of Cornelius 

and his family, (x, xi. 1 — 18.) 
Sect. 5. The first Gentile church founded at 

Antioch. (xi. 19—30.) 
Sect. 6. The apostle James put to death by 

Herod Agrippa, — relation of his miserable 

death, (xii.) 

Part III. describes the conversion of the 
more remote Gentiles, by Barnabas and Paul, 
and, after their separation, by Paul and his 
associates, among whom ivas Luke himself 
during the latter part of Paid^s labours. 
(xiii — xxviii.) 

Sect. 1. The planting of several churches in 
the isle of Cyprus, at Perga in Pamphylia, 
Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, and 
Derbe. — The return of Saint Paul to An- 
tioch. (xiii, xiv.) 

Sect. 2. Discussion of the question by the 
apostles at Jerusalem, concerning the ne- 
cessity of circumcision and of observing 
the law. — Their letter to the churches on 
this subject, (xv. 1 — 35.) 

Sect. 3. Paul's second departure from An- 
tioch. — He preaches the Gospel in various 
countries, particularly at Philippi in Ma- 



JJLtf^ 9 






LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 197 

cedonia. — The conversion of the Philip- 
pian gaoler, (xv. 36 — 40; xvi.) 

Sect. 4. The journeys and apostolical labours 
of Paul and his associates at Thessalonica, 
Berea, and Athens. — His masterly apology 
before the court of the Areopagites. (xvii.) 

Sect. 5. Paul's journey to Corinth, and thence 
to Antioch. (xviii. 1 — 22.) 

Sect. 6. Paul's third departure from An- 
tioch. — Consequences of his preaching at 
Ephesus. (xviii. 23 — 28 ; xix.) 

Sect. 7. The labours of Paul in Greece and 
Asia Minor, and his journey to Jerusa- 
lem, (xx.) 

Sect. 8. The persecution of Paul at Jerusa- 
lem. — He is sent a prisoner to Csesarea. — 
(xxi — xxiii. 1 — 30.) 

Sect. 9. Paul's arrival at Caesarea.— The 
charges of the Jews against him. — His de- 
fence before Felix. — Appeal to Caesar. — 
His defence before Agrippa, at whose re- 
quest his cause was reheard, (xxiii. 31 — - 
35; xxiv — xxvi.) 

Sect. 10. Narrative of Paul's voyage from 
Caesarea. — His shipwreck on the isle of 
Malta. — His voyage thence to Rome, where 
he preaches the Gospel to the Jews, and 
resides for two years, (xxvii, xxviii.) 
r2 

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